THE  SOUL  OF  MAN 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


THE   BASE   OF  THE   HUMAN    BRAIN. 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN 


INVESTIGATION    OF    THE    FACTS 


PHYSIOLOGICAL  AND  EXPERIMENTAL  PSYCHOLOGY 


DR.    PAUL 


WITH    152    ILLUSTRATIONS    AND    DIAGRAMS 


CHICAGO,  ILL.: 

THE  OPEN  COURT  PUBLISHING  CO. 
1891 


I    6 


\-v\o 


PREFACE. 


"\  JL  7"E  all  know  the  legend  of  the  Sphinx,  who  on  the  mountain 
path  stops  the  wanderer  on  his  way  and  proposes  her 
riddle.  And  the  riddle  which  she  proposes  to  you  and  to  me  and 
to  all  mortal  beings,  is  the  same  old  world-problem,  What  is  man  ? 
Whence  does  he  come  and  whither  does  he  go  ? 

What  is  more  interesting  to  man  than  his  own  soul !  And  what, 
at  the  same  time,  is  so  mysterious,  so  wonderful,  so  marvellous  ! 
Our  pleasures  and  pains,  our  loves  and  hatreds,  our  hopes  and 
fears,  our  longings,  our  aspirations  and  ideals,  what  is  their  mean- 
ing and  whither  do  they  tend  ? 

For  us  the  centre  of  the  universe  lies  in  our  own  mind. 
Here,  if  anywhere,  must  be  sought  the  key  to  the  mysteries  of  the 
cosmos.  And  the  problem  of  the  human  soul  is  of  most  vital  im- 
portance ;  for  every  practical  work,  every  success  in  human  life, 
is  a  part  of  its  solution.  All  progress,  all  evolution,  all  growth 
means  a  development,  an  expanse,  and  an  elevation  of  the  human 
mind.  We  cannot  think  of  any  improvement  of  economical,  polit- 
ical, social,  scientific,  or  religious  conditions  that  is  not  at  the 
same  time  an  advance  in  the  psychical  life  of  man. 

The  psychological  problem  is  the  centre  of  philosophy.  No 
philosophy  can  evade  it ;  and  vice  versa,  every  presentation  of  the 
psychological  problem  must  contain  at  least  in  nuce  a  philosophy. 
We  cannot  have  a  conception  of  the  soul  which  is  not,  or  does  not 
at  least  suggest,  at  the  same  time,  a  conception  of  the  world.  The 
world-problem  means  to  man  the  problem  of  the  human  soul. 


vi  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

But  the  importance  of  the  problem  of  the  soul  is  greater  still. 
It  supplies  the  basis  of  ethics.     The  prosperity,  the  salvation,  and 
the  health  of  the  soul  are  the  purpose  of  life  ;  they  are  the  goal  of 
all  our  efforts  ;  they  are  the  contents  of  ethics  and  religion. 
*        *        * 

In  delivering  this  book  to  the  public  I  feel  urged  to  express 
my  deep  indebtedness  to  Mr.  Edward  C.  Hegeler,  of  La  Salle, 
Illinois.  All  the  work  I  have  been  doing  has  become  possible  in 
the  way  it  has  been  done,  solely  through  his  assistance.  It  is 
not  so  much  that  he  has  furnished  the  means  by  which  The 
Open  Court  and  The  Monist  are  supported,  it  is  mainly  the  en- 
thusiasm for  a  great  cause,  the  discriminating  intelligence  and  the 
strength  of  conviction  that  have  created  the  opportunity,  the  aim, 
and  the  purpose  for  which  I  have  been  permitted  to  work. 

Among  all  the  ideas  which  have  inspired  Mr.  Hegeler  to  un- 
dertake a  missionary  work  which  is  best  characterized  as  a  propa- 
ganda for  the  Religion  of  Science,  the  most  important  one  has 
been  his  recognition  of  the  soul  as  form.  This  idea  found  a  sym- 
pathetic echo  in  my  mind  ;  it  well  agreed  with  my  conception  of 
form  and  formal  thought.  Formal  thought  furnishes  the  key  to 
the  comprehension  of  the  world,  because  the  forms  of  things  are 
that  element  which  makes  the  things  what  they  are  ;  and  the  laws 
of  form  being  the  same  in  the  forms  of  the  objective  world  as  well 
as  in  the  forms  of  subjective  thought,  are  the  bridge  which  over- 
arches the  apparent  chasm  that  opens  up  between  the  cognizing 
subject  and  the  cognized  object,  between  the  soul  and  the  universe. 
The  idea  of  form  is  not  a  mere  speculative  theory.  Like  all 
theories  that  are  correct,  it  is  of  eminently  practical  importance. 
The  practical  importance  of  the  conception  of  the  soul  as  form 
throws  light  upon  all  religious  and  ethical  truths,  and  most  so 
upon  the  problem  of  life  after  death  ;  *  indeed  it  yields  a  scientific 

*  The  term  "lifeairer  death"  being  a  positive  expression  seems  to  be 
preferable  to  the  negative  term  "  immortality."  The  latter  has  the  advantage 
of  being  commonly  accepted,  but  this  advantage  is  intimately  interwoven 
with  the  disadvantage  that  the  errors  of  the  old  view  are  attached  to  it. 


PREFACE.  vii 

explanation  of  the  truth  contained  in  the  religious  idea  of  immor- 
tality which  is  the  most  powerful  factor  in  the  aspirations  of  our 

race. 

*        *        * 

It  is  apparent  that  the  ideal  of  a  Religion  of  Science  cannot 
be  realized  before  the  problem  of  the  human  soul  in  its  main 
features  at  least  has  been  solved  by  scientific  inquiry  on  the 
ground  of  the  exact  data  of  verified  and  verifiable  facts.  Many 
diligent  workers  have  labored  and  are  still  laboring  in  the  field  of 
psychology,  but  the  results  of  their  labors  have  not  as  yet  been 
compared,  critically  sifted,  and  collected  in  one  work. 

If  a  work  of  this  kind  had.  existed,  the  author  would  perhaps 
never  have  ventured  to  write  the  present  book.  There  are  innumer- 
able Psychologies,  innumerable  Physiologies,  innumerable  Anato- 
mies, and  floods  of  pamphlets  discussing  the  many  problems  and 
incidents  of  experimental  psychology.  But  there  is  not  one  book 
in  any  language  as  far  as  I  know,  in  which  all  the  facts  of  these 
various  branches  of  science  are  gathered  and  presented  in  their 
connection.  There  is  not  one  book  in  which  the  problem  of  the 
human  soul  is  treated  scientifically  in  its  philosophical,  ethical,  and 
religious  importance.  A  book  of  this  kind  is  a  want,  which  the 
author  has  tried  to  fill. 

Although  the  present  book  is  in  a  certain  sense  a  review  of 
the  present  state  of  investigation,  it  is  not  a  mere  compilation  of 
the  labors  of  others.  Not  only  is  the  method  new  in  which  the 
subject-matter  in  its  connection  with  philosophy  and  ethics  is 
presented,  but  also  several  important  ideas  and  interpretations  of 
facts  have  been  added  by  the  author.  Some  of  them  will  per- 
haps readily  find  recognition.  Others  appear  to  be  in  conflict 
with  the  most  prominent  living  authorities  ;  thus,  for  instance,  the 
explanation  of  the  nature  of  pleasure  and  pain  (pp.  338-345). 
Others  still  are  hypotheses  the  value  of  which  will  depend  mainly 
upon  the  light  that  may  be  gained  through  future  investigations. 
Such  are  the  theory  concerning  the  seat  of  consciousness  (pp.  194- 


viii  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

208)  and  the  problem  of  sex-formation  (pp.  234-237).  As  not  the 
least  important  feature  of  the  book  I  consider  its  philosophical 
foundation,  which  (if  the  author's  views  are  sound)  corroborate  s 
the  unitary  conception  of  the  world,  commonly  called  Monism,  or, 
more  exactly  expressed,  Monistic  Positivism. 

The  field  of  psychological  problems  is  large,  and  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  subject  are  great.  Yet  the  author  has  tried  to  pre- 
sent the  different  topics  with  conciseness  and  with  clearness.  No 
trouble  has  been  spared  in  collecting  and  critically  sifting  the  latest 
results  of  anatomical  and  physiological  investigations  from  the 
highest  authorities  in  this  field  of  inquiry ;  and  pains  have  been 
taken  to  reproduce  from  the  best  sources  the  most  instructive  illus- 
trations of  the  various  nervous  tissues  and  cerebral  organs  for 
the  explanation  of  their  action. 

It  is  to  be  expected  that  this  bock  will  not  satisfy  the  expec- 
tations of  many,  for  two  reasons.  First  because  if  a  man  possesses 
prejudices,  his  prejudices  will  certainly  be  strongest  with  refer- 
ence to  the  problem  of  the  human  soul.  Differences  of  opinion 
must  be  anticipated.  Nevertheless,  if  this  book  does  not  present 
the  favorite  ideas  of  some  among  my  readers,  they  are  kindly  re- 
minded that  it  is  not  my  purpose  to  propound  transcendental  or 
metaphysical  speculations,  but  to  arrange  and  systematize  facts. 
Whatever  speculations  a  man  may  hold  he  must  be  aware  that 
speculations  must  never  collide  with  facts  ;  and  so  the  book  will 
perhaps  after  all  be  found  to  be  useful.  The  second  reason  why  the 
book  will  not  satisfy  the  expectations  of  many  might  be  the  insuffi- 
ciency of  the  author  to  do  full  justice  to  so  great  an  undertaking, 
which  demands  not  only  extensive  reading  but  also  great  accuracy 
and  precision  of  judgment.  Wherever  I  have  failed  either  in  the 
former  or  in  the  latter,  either  by  not  taking  notice  of  important  in- 
vestigations of  others  or  in  judging  wrongly  concerning  the  im- 
portance of  the  facts  offered,  I  can  only  say  in  excuse  that  I  have 
endeavored  to  do  my  best.  In  magnis  voluisse  sat  est. 

THE  AUTHOR. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


I.  THE    PHILOSOPHICAL    PROBLEM    OF    MIND. 

1.  Feeling  and  Motion i 

2.  Is  the  Soul  a  Mechanism  ? 16 

3.  The  Origin  of  Mind 23 

i.  What  is  Mind  ? 23 

ii.    Subjective  and  Objective  Exis.ence.      ...  25 

iii.   How  Feelings  Acquire  Meaning  ?      ....  27 

iv.   Subjectivity  and  Objectivity 29 

v.  The  Projection  of  Objective  Facts    ....  30 

vi.  The  Subject-Superstition  and  Agnosticism      .  31 

vii.   The  Objective  Element  in  Subjective  States  .  35 

viii.   Hallucinations  and  Errors 37 

ix.   Facts  and  Reality.     Truth  and  Mind    ...  40 

x.  Telepathy 43 

xi.   Mind  and  Eternity 45 

II.  THE    RISE    OF    ORGANIZED    LIFE. 

i .  Vitalism  and  the  Conservation  of  Energy 47 

2    Organized  and  Non-organized  Life 54 

3.  Memory  and  Organized  Substance 60 

4.  Soul-Life  of  Animals  and  Plants 66 

5.  Feeling  as  a  Physiological  Prccess 76 

III.  PHYSIOLOGICAL    FACTS    OF    BRAIN-ACTIVITY. 

1.  The  Nervous  System  of  Worms,  Radiates,  and  Articu- 

lates      85 

2.  Connecting  Link  between  the  Invertebrates  and  the 

Vertebrates 94 

3.  Nervous  System  of  Vertebrates 99 

4.  Development  of  the  Brain 107 

5.  Spinal  Cord 114 

6.  Medulla  Oblongata 123 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


7.  Cerebellum  and  Pons 130 

8.  The  Thalamic  Region  of  the  Brain 137 

9.  The  Hemispheric  Region 148 

10.  The  Cortex  and  its  Relations 157 

11.  Localization  of  Brain- Activity 163 

i.   Fissures  and  Convolutions 163 

ii.   Motory  and  Sensory  Centres  ......  169 

iii.   Loss  of  Brain-Substance 172 

iv.   The  Centre  of  Language 173 

v.   Experiments  upon  Animals 186 

vi.   Meynert's  three  Systems  of  Projection  and 

Psychical  Activity i«8 

vii.  The  Seat  of  Consciousness 194 

viii.   Consciousness  and  Intelligence 204 

12.  Comparative  Physiology  of  the  Brain 209 

IV.  THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  RACE  AND  THE  DATA 

OF    PROPAGATION. 
Fecundation  and  the  Problem  of  Sex-Formation     .     .     .   2ir 

V.  THE    INVESTIGATIONS  OF    EXPERIMENT    L    PSYCHOL- 

OGY. 

1.  The  Nature  of  Soul-Life 238 

2.  Central  and  Peripheral  Soul-Life 249 

3.  Double  Personality 258 

4.  What  is  Hypnotism  ? 268 

5.  Lethargy,  Catalepsy,  and  Somnambulism      ....   279 

6.  The  Reality  of  Dreams .     .   281 

7.  Dreams  and  Hallucinations 292 

8.  Suggestion  and  Suggestibility  .     .     . 300 

9.  The  Co-ordination  of  Mental  Activity 308 

10.  The  Suggestibility  of  Crowds 314 

Sentimental  Arguments 319 

Insinuation  and  Suggestion 321 

11.  Significance  of  Hypnotism 324 

12.  The  Dangers  of  Hypnotism 332 

VI.  THE  ETHICAL  AND  RELIGIOUS  ASPECTS  OF  SOUL- 

"LIFE. 

1.  Pleasure  and  Pain 33$ 

2.  The  Three  Phases  of  Reflex-Motions 346 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS.  xi 

PAGE. 

3.  The  Nature  of  Thought 354 

The  Mechanism  of  Thought 358 

4.  The  Rise  of  Consciousness 363 

5.  The  Limitations  of  the  Senses 370 

6.  The  Basis  of  a  Positive  Philosophy 374 

7.  The  Reaction  Against  Materialism 380 

8.  .Freedom  of  Will  and  Responsibility 389 

9.  Is  Death  a  Finality  ? 398 

Death  and  Birth ' 398 

Whence  Came  Death  ? 404 

The  Ethics  of  Immortality 407 

10.  The  Communism  of  Soul-Life 412 

11.  Soul  Life  and  the  Preservation  of  Form 418 

12.  The  Old  and  the  New  Psychology     .......  425 

13.  The  Psychological  Problem  and  Religion  .....  429 

14.  The  Soul  of  the  Universe 437 

VII.   INDEX      • 447 


LIST  OF  CUTS  AND  DIAGRAMS. 


NO.  PAGE- 

1  Frontispiece.     The  Base  of  the  Human  Brain.     (Leuret 

and  Gratiolet). 

2  An  Amoeba.     (Haeckel) 67 

3  A  Cell.     (Haeckel) 68 

4  Gastrula.     (Haeckel) 69 

5  Four  Forms  of  a  Hydra.     (Haeckel) 69 

6  Turbellaria.     (Haeckel) 74 

7  Nervous  System  of  Man 75 

8  Diagram  Illustrating  a  Primitive  Reflex  Motion     ...  85 

9  The  Primitive  Brain  of  a  Whirlworm.     (Haeckel)      .      .  85 

10  Nervous  System  of  a  Star- fish.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet)   .  86 

11  Nervous  System  of  a  Common  Sandhopper.     (Grant)     .  87 

12  Nervous  System  of  a  Fish-Louse.     (Grant) 87 

13  Nervous  System  of  a  Crab,     (Milne  Edwards) 87 

14  Nervous  System  of  a  White   Ant.       (Gegenbauer,    after 

Lespes) 88 

15  Nervous  System  of  a  Water  Beetle.     (Gegenbauer)    .     .  88 

16  Nervous  System  of  a  Fly.  (Gegenbauer,  after  Blanchard)  88 

17  Nervous  System  of  a  Caterpillar.  (Solly,  after  Newport)  89 

18  Nervous  System  of  a  Chrysalis.     (Solly,   after  Newport)  89 

19  Nervous  System  of  an  Insect.     (Solly,  after  Newport)    .  89 

20  Nervous  System  of  a  Great  Green  Grasshopper.     (New- 

port)   .     .     "     .  90 

21  Nervous  System  of  a  Medical  Leech.     (Owen) ....  90 

22  Nervous  System  of  a  Common  Garden  Snail.     (Owen)  .  91 

23  Nervous  System  of  an  Oyster.     (Todd,  after  Garner)     .  91 

24  Nervous  System  of  a  Common  Slug.    (Solly,  after  Baly)  91 

25  ^Pearly  Nautilus.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet,  after  Owen)     .  92 

26  Amphioxus  Lanceolatus 94 

27  Development  of  the  Ascidian.     (Haeckel) 96 


LIST  OF  CUTS  AND  DIAGRAMS.         xiii 

NO.  PAGE. 

28  Development  of  the  Lanceolate.     (Haeckel)      ....  97 

29  Brain  of  a  Perch.     (Gegenbauer,  after  Cuvier).     .     .     .  101 

30  Brain  of  a  Pike.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet).     ....     .102 

31  Brain  of  a  Shark.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet) 102 

32  Nervous  System  of  a  Frog.     (Wiedersheim,  after  Ecker)  103 

33  Brain  of  a  Boa-constrictor.     (Bastian,  after  Swan)     .     .  ioj 

34  Brain  of  a  Cuckoo.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet) 104 

35  Brain  of  an  Owl.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet) 104 

36  Brains  of  eocene  Mammals.  (Wiedersheim,  after  Marsh)  105 

37  Brain  of  a  Parrot.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet) 105 

Brain  of  a  Raven.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet) 105 

38  Brain  of  a  Bear.     (Ranke) 106 

39  Brain  of  a  Gorilla.     (Ranke) 106 

40  Brain  of  a  Man.     (Ranke) 106 

41  Early  Stage  of  the  Nervous  System  in  the  Differentiation 

of  the  Embryo.     (Wiedersheim) 107 

42  Sagittal  Sections  Representing  Five  Stages  of  Cerebral 

Development.     (After  Mivart) 108 

43  Frontal  Sections,    Representing  Three    Stages   of    the 

Fore-brain.     (Wernicke) 108 

44  Embryo  of  Mammal  or  Bird.     (Haeckel) 109 

45  Foetal  Brain  of  a  Chick.  .  (Mihalcovics) no 

46  Coronal  Section  of  the  Foetal  brain  of  a  Mammal.    (After 

McAllister) no 

47  Sagittal  Median  Section  of  Vertebrate  brains,  general 

plan.     (Edinger) in 

48  Sagittal  Median  Brain  Section  of  Gymnote.     (Edinger)  .  in 

49  Sagittal  Median  Brain  Section  of  Teleost.     (Edinger)    .  in 

50  Sagittal  Median  Brain  Section  of  Amphibia.   (Edinger)  .  in 

51  Sagittal  Median  Brain  Section  of  Reptile.     (Edinger)    .  112 

52  Sagittal  Median  Brain  Section  of  Bird.     (Edinger)    .     .  112 

53  Sagittal  Median  Brain  Section  of  Mammal.    (Edinger)  .  112 

54  The  Human  Brain  fully  developed.   Upper  view.  (Leuret 

and  Gratiolet) 113 

55  The  Human  Brain,  side  view.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet)  .    113 

56  Nerve  cells  from  spinal  cord.     (After  Ramier)  .     .     .     .114 

57  Spinal  Cord,  Cross  Section.     (After  Deiters)     .     .     .     .115 

58  Spinal  Cord,  Cross  Section.  (Reproduced  from  Charcot)   116 

59  Spinal  Cord  -with  anterior  and  posterior  roots.     (After 

Edinger) 117 


xiv  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

NO.  PAGE 

60  The   Mechanism   of  Pyramidal   fibres.     (Edinger   after 

Striimpell) 118 

6 1  Severance  of  Spinal  Cord.     (Edinger  after  Striimpell)    .    118 

62  Pyramidal  Bundles.     (Edinger) 119 

63  Cross  sections  of  Spinal  Cord.     (After  Erb)       ....   120 

64  Diagram  of  Pyramidal  Bundles.     (After  Edinger)      .     .    120 

65  Diagrams  Representing  Flechsig's  Investigations    .     .     .121 

66  Spinal  Cord,  Transverse  Section,  After  Lissauer.     (Re- 

produced from  Edinger) 122 

67  Nuclei  of  the  Third  and  Fourth  Nerves.     (Edinger)  .     .    124 

68  Diagram  Representing  the  Reflex  Mechanism  of  the  Me- 

dulla Oblongata 125 

69  Medulla  Oblongata.     (Reproduced  from  Landois)      .     .126 

70  Pigeon   whose   Cerebellum   is   removed.      (Reproduced 

from  Encyclopaedia  Britannica 131 

71  Pigeon  whose  Hemispheres  are  removed.     (Reproduced 

from  Encyclopaedia  Britannica 131 

72  Cerebellum.     (After  Sappey) . 132 

73  Gray  Matter  of  Cerebellum.     (Sharpy  after  Sankey)      .  133 

74  Pons  and  its  Relations 134 

75  Cerebellum  Superficial  view  ;  dorsal  side.     (Edinger)      .  135 

76  Cerebellum  Superficial  view  ;  ventral  side.     (Edinger)  .  136 

77  Cerebellum  Representing  Stilling's  investigations.  (Edin- 

ger)    136 

78  Diagram  showing  the  Relation  of  Cerebellum  and  Pons 

to  the  thalamic  Region 138 

79  Section  of  Brain  through  Thalamus  and  Corpus  Stria- 

turn.     (After  Edinger) 140 

80  The  Thalamus  and  its  Relations.     (Edinger)     ....    146 

81  Sagittal  Section  of  Third  and  Fourth  Ventricles.     (After 

Reichert) 147 

82  Corona  Radiata  and  its  Relations 149 

83  Thalamus  and  its  cortical  connections.     (Edinger)      .     .  150 

84  Nucleus  Caudatus.     (Edinger) 150 

85  Coronal  Section.     (Edinger) 151 

86  Sagittal  Median  Section  of  Brain.     (Reproduced  from 

McAllister) 152 

87  First  Horizontal  Section.     (After  Henly) 153 

88  Second  Horizontal  Section.     (Edinger) 154 

89  Third  Horizontal  Section 155 


LIST  OF  CUTS  AND  DIAGRAMS.         xv 

NO.  PAGE. 

go  Cross- Section  through   Gyrus  Hippocampi.     (Edinger)  .  156 

91  Commissural  Fibres  of  the  Hemispheres.     (Edinger)      .  158 

92  Sagittal  Median  Section  of  Brain.     (Edinger)    ....  159 

93  Coronal  Section  through  the  Brain.     (Edinger)      .      .     .159 

94  Fibrae  Propriae.     (Edinger) 159 

95  Fibres  of  the  Hemispheres.     (After  Huguenin)       .     .     .  160 

96  Section  of  Cortical  Substance.     (Edinger) 161 

97  Phrenology.     (After  Gall) 165 

98  The  Left  Hemisphere.     (After  Henle) 167 

99  Side  View  of  the  Brain.     (After  Ecker) 167 

100  Base  of  the  Brain.     (Reproduced  from  Edinger)   .      .      .    168 

101  Longitudinal  Section  of  the  Brain.     (Reproduced  from 

Edinger) 168 

102  Moior  Regions  of  a  Monkey's  Brain.     (After  Ferrier)     .    170 

103  Dog's  Brain.     (After  Munk) 171 

104  Monkey's  Brain.     (After  Munk) 171 

105  Meynert's  Representation  of  the  Nervous  System.     (Re- 

produced from  Hermann) 190 

106  Sagittal  Section  through  the  Brain  of  a  Dog.     (After 

Wernicke) 199 

107  Frontal  Section  of  the  Brain  of  a  Monkey.     (After  Wer- 

nicke)  200 

108  Interior  of  the  Hemisphere- Ventricle.   (After  Wernicke)    200 

109  Diagrammatic  View  of  the  Frontal  Section  of  a  Brain. 

After  Huguenin.     (Reproduced  from  Charcot)  .     .      .   201 
[io     Diagrammatic  Representation  of  the  Fibres  in  the  Cau- 
date and  Lenticular  Bodies.     (After  Wernicke).     .     .   202 
in     Sagittal   Section  through   the   Brain  of  a   Pig.     (After 

Wernicke) 203 

112  Brain  of  a  Sheep  after  Leuret.  (Reproduced  from  Mey- 

nert) 211 

113  Brain  of  a  Fox.     (Reproduced  from  Meynert) .     .     .     .  211 

114  Brain  of  a  Monkey.     (Reproduced  from  Meynert)     .     .   212 

115  Brain  of  Man.     (Reproduced  from  Meynert)    .     .     .     .213 

116  Brain  of  an  Elephant.     (Leuret  and  Gratiolet).     .     .      .   214 

117  Diagram  showing  the  Growth  of  the  Hemispheric  Region 

in  Proportion  to  an  Increase  of  Intelligence.     (Repro- 
duced from  Landois) 216 

118  Formation  of  Cells  in  S^igeoclonium  Insigne.     (Sachs)  .   221 

1 19  Conjugation  of  Spirogyra  Longata.     (Sachs)     ....   222 


xvi  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN, 

NO.  PAGE. 

120     Sexual  reproduction  of  Fucus  Vesiculosus.     (Sachs)  .     .   224 
ivji     Fecundation  of  Egg  of  Holothurium.   (Reproduced  from 

Ranke) 225 

122  Graafian  Follicle.     (Reproduced  from  Ranke)  ....   226 

123  Egg  of  Star-fish.     (Reproduced  from  Ranke)    ....   227 

124  Fecundation  of  the  egg  of  a  sea-urchin.     (Reproduced 

from  Ranke) 231 

125  Gastrula  Formation  of  the  Pond  Snail.     (Haeckel)    .     .  232 

126  Gastrula  Formation  of  the  Arrow  Worm.     (Haeckel)     .  232 

127  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Stem.     (Haeckel) 240 

128  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Air  bladder.     (Haeckel)     ....  240 

129  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Feeder.     (Haeckel) 240 

130  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Prehensile  Filament.     (Haeckel)    .  240 

131  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Shield.     (Haeckel)    ....           .  241 

132  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Feeler.     (Haeckel) 241 

133  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Propeller.     (Haeckel) 241 

134  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Male  Polyp.     (Haeckel)    ....  241 

135  Colonial  Sea-nettle,  Female  Polyp.     (Haeckel)      .      .     .241 

136  Localization  of  certain  functions  to  show  their  distribu- 

tion.    (After  Exner) 245 

137  Diagram  Illustrating  the  grades  of  Hypnotism.   (Author)  276 

138  Diagram  Illustrating  the  Mechanism  of  Vision.   (Author)  282 

139  Brain  of  a  Dog.     (Munk) 283 

140  Brain  of  a  Monkey.     (Munk)      .......  .  285 

141  Diagram  Illustrating  the  Nervous  Mechanism  of  Speech. 

(After  Wernicke) 287 

142  Diagram   Showing   the  Mechanism  of  Somnambulism. 

(Author) 305 

143  D.'agram  Illustrating  the  Normal  and  Abnormal  Stages  of 

Consciousness  in  their  Parallelism.     (Author)    .     .     .   306 

144  Coronal   Section  Through   Striped  Body  (foetal  stage). 

(Edinger) 311 

145  Coronal  Section  Through  the  Human  Brain.     (Edinger)  312 

146  Diagram  of  Simple  Reflex  Motion.     (Author)    ....   347 

147  Diagram  of  Simple  Reflex  Action.     (Author)    ....   349 

148  Diagram  Showing  an  Act  of  Deliberation.     (Author)      .   349 

149  Propagation  of  a  Moner.     (Haeckel) 399 

150  Propagation  of  Amoeba  Sphsero  Coccus.     (Haeckel)  .      .  400 

151  Conjugation  of  Chilodon  Cucullulus.     (Haeckel)  .  .   402 

152  Artificial  Division  of  Stentor  Coeruleus.    (After  Balbiani)  405 


FEELING  AND  MOTION. 


IN  physiological  text-books  there  often  occurs  the 
misleading  expression  "change  of  consciousness  into 
will"  or  of  "feeling  into  motion."  This  appears  to 
suggest  the  interconvertibility  of  motion  and  feeling 
and  has  prompted  philosophers  to  propound  mechan- 
ical explanations  of  the  origin  of  feeling.  All  these 
explanations  were  failures,  for  the  foundation  upon 
which  they  rested,  namely,  the  interconvertibility  of 
motion  and  feeling  is  an  error.  Motion  and  feeling 
are  radically  different  in  their  nature.  Motion  can 
never  be  transformed  into  feeling,  nor  can  feeling 
be  transformed  into  motion. 

Before  we  proceed  let  us  note  that  feeling  and  mo- 
tion, although  quite  different  in  their  nature,  are  not 
separate  realms  of  existence.  There  are  no  feelings 
that  exist  by  themselves  ;  feelings  are  states  that  ac- 
company certain  motions.  Says  Ribot  in  his  "  Psy- 
chology of  Attention  "  :  * 

"  .  .  .  .  The  intermission  in  an  apparent  continuity  alone 
renders  possible  any  long  attention.  If  we  keep  one  of  our 
eyes  fixed  upon  any  single  point,  after  a  while  our  vision  becomes 
confused  ;  a  cloud  is  formed  between  the  object  and  ourselves, 
and  finally  we  see  nothing  at  all.  If  we  lay  our  hand  flat 
upon  a  table,  motionless,  and  without  pressure  (for  pressure  itself 
is  a  movement),  by  slow  degrees  the  sensation  wears  off,  and  finally 

*  English  translation  published  by  the  Open  Court  Publishing  Company, 
P.i7- 


2  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

disappears.  The  reason  is,  that  there  is  no  perception  without  move- 
mentt  be  it  ever  so  "weak.  Every  sensorial  organ  is  at  the  same 
time  both  sensitive  and  motory.  As  soon  as  absolute  immo- 
bility eliminates  one  of  the  two  elements  (motility),  the  function  of 
the  other  after  a  while  is  rendered  null.  In  a  word,  movement  is 
the  condition  of  the  change,  which  is  one  of  the  conditions  of  con- 
sciousness." 

For  the  sake  of  clearness  we  shall  distinguish  be- 
tween feeling  and  sensation.  By  sensation  we  under- 
stand a  process  of  nervous  irritation  which  is  perceived. 
By  feeling  we  understand  the  state  of  awareness  only, 
that  accompanies  the  nervous  commotion  of  a  sensa- 
tion. Sensation  is  a  certain  motion  accompanied  with 
feeling.  Feeling  is  that  part  of  the  sensation  which  is 
no  motion ;  the  word  feeling  signifies  that  intangible 
something  which,  we  trust,  every  animal  being  knows 
from  experience.  Feeling  is  entirely  different  from 
motion  and  can  be  expressed  in  terms  of  neither  mat- 
ter nor  motion.  Feeling  is  not  material  and  it  is  not 
mechanical,  i.  e.,  it  is  not  motion.  It  constitutes 
something  sui  generis. 

By  saying  that  feeling  is  neither  material  nor  me- 
chanical, we  do  not  maintain  that  it  exists  by  itself. 
Feeling  is  real  as  much  as  are  matter  and  motion.  In 
contradistinction  to  the  objective  reality  of  material 
things,  we  may  call  it  subjective  reality.  Its  existence 
is  not  proved  by  external  activity  but  by  the  internal 
state  of  awareness.  Its  reality  accordingly  is  most 
immediate  and  direct,  so  that  it  would  be  ridiculous  to 
doubt  it.  Indeed  there  have  been  philosophers  who 
doubted  the  existence  of  the  material  universe  and  its 
mechanical  action,  yet  these  skeptics  did  not  deny  the 
existence  of  feeling. 

Professor  Clifford  in  his  excellent  essay  on  the  <Na- 


FEELING  AND  MOTION.  3 

ture  of  Things '  in  themselves,   distinguishes  between 
object  and  eject.     He  says  : 

81  There  is  the  external  or  objective  order  in  which  the  sensa- 
tion of  letting  go  is  followed  by  the  sight  of  a  falling  object  and  the 
sound  of  its  fall.  The  objective  order,  qua  order,  is  treated  by 
physical  science  which  investigates  the  uniform  relations  of  objects 
in  time  and  space. 

"  However  remote  the  inference  of  physical  science,  the  thing 
inferred  is  always  a  part  of  me,  a  possible  set  of  changes  in  any 
consciousness  bound  up  in  the  objective  order  with  other  known 
changes." 

The  objective  order  is  represented  by  physical 
science  as  a  system  of  motions  that  follow  one  another 
according  to  strict  laws.  What  now  is  an  eject  ? 
Professor  Clifford  says  : 

' '  There  are,  however,  some  inferences  which  are  profoundly 
different  from  those  of  physical  science.  When  I  come  to  the  con- 
clusion that  you  are  conscious  and  that  there  are  objects  in  your 
consciousness  similar  to  those  in  mine,  I-  am  not  inferring  any 
actual  or  possible  feelings  of  my  own,  but  your  feelings,  which  are 
not,  and  cannot,  by  any  possibility  become  objects  in  my  conscious- 
ness. 

"  .  .  .  .  These  inferred  existences  are  in  the  very  act  of  infer- 
ence thrown  otttoi  my  consciousness,  recognized  as  outside  of  it  as 
not  being  apart  of  me.  I  propose,  accordingly,  to  call  these  inferred 
existences  ejects,  things  thrown  out  of  my  consciousness  to  dis- 
tinguish them  from  objects,  things  presented  in  my  consciousness, 
phenomena." 

Let  us  represent  the  processes  observable  in  the 
objective  world  by  Italic  letters.  What  we  call  things 
or  occurrences  are  either  simultaneous  or  success- 
ive groups  of  A  B  C,  R  S  T,  etc.  Among  these 
groups  there  is  one  I  K  L  which  is  called  our  body  \ 
and  some  motions  oil  K  L  are  accompanied  with  feel- 
ings. Now  for  the  sa^e  of  distinction  let  us  represent 
feelings  with  Greek  letters.  We  find  that  certain  I K  L 


4  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

are  accompanied  by  i  n  A.*  A  certain  motion  is  ac- 
companied by  a  corresponding  feeling,  so  that  as  far 
as  certain  activities  of  our  body  are  concerned,  there 
appears  a  perfect  parallelism.  If  we  consider  our 
body  as  a  mechanism,  we  find  only  motions  and  noth- 
ing but  motions.  The  chain  I  K  L  is  uninterrupted. 
If  we  consider  ourselves  as  pure  mind  and  nothing 
but  feeling,  we  find  only  states  of  consciousness  and 
nothing  else.  We  find  no  motion. 

Our  fellow- men,  and  also  animals,  being  endowed, 
as  we  believe,  with  feeling,  are,  so  far  as  we  can  ob- 
serve, other  bodies,  and  their  lives  represent  such 
chains  as  /'  K1  L1,  I"  K"  L",  etc.,  which,  as  we  sup- 
pose, are  accompanied  by  z'  H'  A',  i"  H"  A",  etc. 
These  series  of  z'  H'  A',  i"  K"  A",  etc.,  are  not  di- 
rectly observable.  They  are  what  Clifford  calls  "ejects." 

If  physiologists  say  that  a  change  of  motion  into 
feeling  takes  place,  they  can  mean  only  that  a  certain 
motion  is  transferred,  which  now  is  and  now  is  not 
accompanied  with  feeling.  It  is,  however,  a  loose  way 
of  speaking.  Instead  of  saying  : 

HI  K  L  M  N 

i   H  A 

where  H  is  the  motion  producing  a  sensory  irritation 
and  M  muscular  motion,  ^Vthe  movement  of  an  object 
effected  by  muscular  motion,  IK  L  being  accom- 
panied by  i  H  A,  they  say  : 

H  i  H  A  M  N. 

Thus  they  jump  from  one  series  into  the  other. 

*  The  method  of  employing  a  series  of  Italic  letters  to  express  objective 
realities,  ajid  a  series  of  Greek  letters  to  express  subjective  realities  or  feel- 
ings, (AB  C,  R  S  T,  representing  objects,  I K  L  our  own  bodies,  t  K  /I  states 
of  consciousness)  was  suggested  to  me  by  reading  an  article  of  Professor 
Mach  on  the  Analysis  of  Sensations.  However,  Professor  Mach's  application 
is  different. 


FEELING  AND  MOTION.  5 

The  method  is  incorrect  and  can  be  considered  par- 
donable only  in  so  far  as  i  H  A  appear  to  us  for  certain 
purposes  of  much  greater  consequence  than  /  K  L. 
The  group  I K  L  is  called  soul  or  mind  only  in  so  far 
as  it  is  accompanied  with  z  %  A. 

The  question  now  arises  :  How  can  we  account  for 
the  sudden  appearance  of  feeling.  It  cannot  be  ex- 
plained as  a  transformation  of  motion.  The  inter- 
convertibility  of  motion  and  feeling  must  be  rejected, 
and  Clifford,  in  contradistinction  to  all  philosophers 
who  try  to  explain  everything  from  matter  and  motion, 
most  emphatically  declares  : 

"To  say:  'Up  to  this  point  science  can  explain, — here  the 
soul*  steps  in,'  is  not  to  say  what  is  untrue,  but  to  talk  nonsense." 

Clifford  adds  : 

The  question,  "  Is  the  mind  *  a  force?  "  is  to  be  condemned  by 

similar  considerations Force  is  an  abstraction  relating  to 

objective  facts  ....  and  cannot  possibly  be  the  same  thing  as  an 
eject,  another  man's  consciousness. 

But  the  question,  "  Do  the  changes  in  a  man's  consciousness 
run  parallel  with  the  changes  of  motion,  and  therefore  with  the 
forces  of  his  brain  ?  "  is  a  real  question  and  not  prima  facie  non- 
sense. 

Clifford  affirms  this  question.  He  maintains  that 
there  is  a  correspondence  between  body  and  mind,* 
as  there  is  between  a  written  and  a  spoken  sentence. 
There  is  a  correspondence  of  element  to  element, 
each  written  letter  although  quite  a  different  thing 
from  a  sound,  corresponds  to  a  certain  sound.  The 

*  Soul  and  mind  are  used  here  as  a  synonym  of  the  sum  total  of  feel- 
ing or  of  consciousness,  i.  e.,  concentrated  feeling.  They  represent  the  series 
i  K  /I,  i'  K.'  /I',  i"  a"  A",  etc. 

Some  understand  by  such  words  as  soul,  mind,  etc.,  mere  states  of  con- 
sciousness i  K  "X,  some  the  objective  nerve  structures  and  their  functions  I K  L, 
others  still  groups  of  facts  consisting  of  both  series  IL  KK  L"X.  It  is  apparent 
that  a  difference  in  the  usage  of  terms  without  further  indication  as  to  their 
meaning,  must  be  productive  of  great  confusion. 


6  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

written  sentence  as  well  as  the  spoken  sentence  "  are 

built    up    together,    in    nearly    the    same    way 

The  two  complex  products  are  as  wholly  unlike  as 
the  elements  are,  but  the  manner  of  their  complica- 
tion is  the  same." 

Now  we  know  that  certain  motions  are  accompa- 
nied by  consciousness,  and  that  others,  so  far  as  we 
can  see,  are  not.  How  can  we  account  for  the  appear- 
ance and  disappearance  of  consciousness  ? 

We  know  that  certain  dim  feelings  become  con- 
scious by  concentration.  The  mechanical  process  of 
nerve  activity  gives  us  the  key  to  this  explanation,  for 
we  have  different  degrees  of  feeling  corresponding  to 
different  degrees  of  intensity  produced  through  a  con- 
centration of  nerve  activity.  Consciousness  rises  from 
simple  feelings.  But  whence  does  feeling  come? 

Feelings  must  be  considered  as  a  complex  of  cer- 
tain elements,  which  we  call  "  the  elements  of  feeling. " 
The  single  letters  i  and  n  and  A,  and  JA  also  p,  6,  t  are 
elements  of  feeling.  We  have  no  right  to  assume  that 
they  exist  by  themselves,  but  must  suppose  that  they 
accompany  the  elements  of  motion  /,  K,  L,  M,  R,  S,  T, 
etc.  Certain  combinations  of  the  elements  of  feeling 
produce  actual  feelings,  just  as  certain  combina- 
tions of  feelings  produce  consciousness.  If  the  con- 
centration of  consciousness  is  destroyed  or  for  the  time 
abolished,  feelings  may  and  under  special  conditions 
(as,  for  instance,  in  sleep  or  in  hypnotic  states)  will 
continue.  If  a  frog  is  decapitated  the  ganglions  of 
the  medulla  will  for  a  considerable  time  continue  to 
feel.  In  like  manner,  if  that  combination  which  pro- 
duces actual  feeling  is  disturbed  or  destroyed,  feel- 
ing will  disappear,  but  the  elements  of  feeling  will 
continue. 


FEELING  AND  MOTION.  7 

Unless  we  consider  every  act  of  feeling  a  special 
creation  of  supernatural  powers,  a  break  in  the  conti- 
nuity of  nature,  we  are  inevitably  driven  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  all  series  A  B  C,  I  K L,  R  S  T,  etc.,  etc.,  are 
accompanied  by  a  ft  y,  i  K  A,  p  ff  r,  etc,  etc.  All  ele 
ments  of  objective  reality  are  inseparably  united  with 
the  corresponding  elements  of  subjective  reality,  and 
the  latter  are  those  facts  which  under  special  condi- 
tions and  in  special  combinations  unite  into  feelings. 

From  the  monistic  standpoint  we  must  look  upon 
nature  as  being  endowed  with  the  potentialities  of 
feelings.  Every  natural  process  we  suppose  to  be 
animated  with  the  elementary  germs  of  psychic  life, 
with  that  something  of  which  our  very  simplest  feel- 
ings are  exceedingly  complex  combinations. 

Nature  cannot  be  considered  as  a  dead  machinery; 
it  is  alive  throughout  and  every  process  of  objective 
activity  must  be  supposed  to  be  animated  by  the  ele- 
ments of  that  subjective  phase  of  life  which  in  the 
human  brain  appears  as  consciousness. 

Feeling,  accordingly,  is  a  special  form  of  the  ele- 
ments of  feeling,  and  the  problem  of  the  origin  of  feel- 
ing from  this  standpoint  is  to  be  stated  as  follows  : 

What  is  the  molecular  combination,  and  what  is 
its  mode  of  action  that  is  accompanied  by  feeling  ? 

This  question  has  not  as  yet  been  answered,  and 
physiology  is  very  far  still  from  solving  the  problem 
satisfactorily  in  all  its  details.  The  most  important 
features  only  of  the  process  are  known,  at  least  in 

coarse  outlines. 

* 
*  * 

The  process  taking  place  in  the  nervous  system 
may  briefly  be  described  thus  :  An  impression  of  the 
surrounding  world  affects  the  skin  or  one  of  the  sense- 


8  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

organs  of  an  animal  organism,  and  produces  a  shock 
upon  the  sensory  nerve-fibres.  This  shock  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  ganglion  where  it  causes  an  action  in 
the  gray  nerve-cells ;  this  action  of  the  ganglion  is 
further  transmitted  to  the  motor  nerve  and  when  it 
reaches  the  end  of  the  motor  nerve  a  discharge  takes 
place  which  causes  the  muscle  to  contract,  thus  pro- 
ducing muscular  motion.  Along  the  whole  line  from 
the  impression  received  to  the  muscular  contractions 
there  is  an  uninterrupted  chain  of  motions. 

Physiological  psychology,  inaugurated  by  Fechner 
and  elaborated  by  many  great  scientists  of  all  nation- 
alities, is  busy  at  work  to  measure  the  subtilest  move- 
ments of  nerve-activity.  Says  George  J.  Romanes  in 
his  Lecture,  "Mind  and  Body"  : 

"  If,  by  means  of  a  suitable  apparatus,  a  muscle  is  made  to 
record  its  own  contraction,  we  find  that  during  all  the  time  it  is  in 
contraction,  it  is  undergoing  a  vibratory  movement  at  the  rate  of 
about  nine  pulsations  per  second.  What  is  the  meaning  of  this 
movement  ?  The  meaning  is  that  the  act  of  will  in  the  brain,  which 
serves  as  a  stimulus  to  the  contraction  of  the  muscle  and  is  accom- 
panied by  a  vibratory  movement  in  the  muscle,  is  accompanied  by 
a  vibratory  movement  in  the  gray  matter  of  the  brain  ;  that  this 
movement  is  going  on  at  the  rate  of  nine  pulsations  per  second  ; 
and  that  the  muscle  is  giving  a  separate  and  distinct  contraction  in 
response  to  every  one  of  these  nervous  pulsations.  . . . 

A  sensory  nerve  which  at  the  surface  of  its  expansion  is  able 
to  respond  differently  to  differences  of  musical  pitch,  of  tempera- 
ture and  even  of  color,  is  probably  able  to  vibrate  very  much 
more  rapidly  even  than  this  [viz.,  one  thousand  beats  per  second]. 
We  are  not,  indeed,  entitled  to  conclude  that  the  nerves  of  special 
sense  vibrate  in  actual  unison,  or  synchronize,  with  these  external 
sources  of  stimulation  ;  but  we  are,  I  think,  bound  to  conclude  that 
they  must  vibrate  in  some  numerical  proportion  to  them  (else  we 
should  not  perceive  objective  differences  in  sound,  temperature,  or 
color)  ....  there  is  a  constant  ratio  between  the  amount  of  agita- 


FEELING  AND  MOTION.  9 

tion  produced  in  a  sensory  nerve  and  the  intensity  of  the  corre- 
sponding sensation  .  .  .  ." 

So  far  as  we  can  observe  a  process  of  nerve-activity, 
there  is  no  change  of  motion  into  feeling  and  of  feeling 
back  into  motion.  There  is  no  such  break  in  the  chain 
of  mechanical  causes  and  effects.  Yet  in  a  certain  part 
of  the  chain  of  mechanical  causation,  the  motions  are 
accompanied  by  feelings  ;  and  we  have  sufficient  rea- 
sons to  believe  that  the  place  where  motions  are  ac- 
companied by  feelings  is  the  ganglion. 

We  return  once  more  to  Prof.  Clifford.  We  fol- 
lowed his  arguments  and  adopted  his  conclusions  ex- 
cept the  very  last  inference  he  makes.  Prof.  Clifford 
concludes  his  essay  with  the  following  consideration. 
He  says : 

"That  element  of  which,  as  we  have  seen,  even  the  simplest 
feeling  is  a  complex,  I  shall  call  mind  stuff" 

Clifford  solves  the  question  in  the  following  manner  : 

"  As  ihe  physical  configuration  of  my  cerebral  image  of  the 
object 

"  Is  to  the  physical  configuration  of  the  object, 

"So  is  my  perception  of  the  object  (the  object  regarded  as 
complex  of  my  feelings) 

"  To  the  thing  in  itself." 

Clifford  sums  up  his  doctrine  : 

"  The  universe,  then,  consists  entirely  of  mind-stuff.  .  . 

"  Matter  is  a  mental  picture  in  which  mind-stuff  is  the  thing 
represented. 

"Reason,  intelligence,  and  volition,  are  properties  of  a  com- 
plex which  is  made  up  of  elements  themselves  not  rational,  not 
intelligent,  not  conscious." 

Clifford  in  speaking  of  similar  views  propounded 
by  Kant,  Wundt,  and  Tyndall,  says  in  an  adjoined 
note  : 

"The  question  is  one  in  which  it  is  peculiarly  difficult  to 
make  out  precisely  what  another  man  means,  and  even  what  one 
means  oneself." 


io  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

The  conclusion  of  Clifford's  arguments  that  the 
universe  consists  entirely  of  mind-stuff,  I  must  con- 
fess, appears  to  me  very  abrupt  and  I  cannot  admit  it. 
Although  in  accord  with  all  the  rest,  I  cannot  follow 
Clifford  to  the  end.  It  may  be  that  I  fail  "to  make 
out  precisely  "  what  he  means,  but  if  allowed  to  make 
a  conclusion  of  my  own  in  close  connection  with  his 
reasoning  as  above  described,  I  would  say  : 

The  thing  in  itself  is  the  inner,  i.  e.,  subjective 
reality,  which  appears  (so  as  to  become  perceptible) 
as  motions  or  outer,  i.  e.  objective,  reality.  * 

The  following  may  be  added  by  way  of  explanation  : 
The  world  is  as  it  is,  one  indivisible  whole.  All  its  ob- 
jective reality  is  throughout  combined  with  subjective 
reality.  The  objective  reality  we  call  matter,  and  its  ac- 
tivity motions.  The  subjective  reality  we  call  elements 
of  feeling;  and  the  compounds  resulting  therefrom  are 
actual  feelings  and  consciousness.  It  is  this  subjec- 
tive reality  alone  which  Clifford  denned  as  "mind- 
stuff,'!  and  when  speaking  of  the  universe  as  it  really 
exists,  he  improperly  limits  its  reality  to  mind-stuff, 
as  if  the  objective  reality,  which  is  represented  in  our 
brains  by  what  we  call  motions,  were  a  mere  illusion. 
It  is  true,  as  Clifford  says,  that  "matter  is  a  mental 
picture";  but  it  is  not  true  that  it  represents  "mind- 
stuff."  Matter  is  no  mere  mental  picture  ;  it  repre- 
sents a  certain  feature  of  reality,  viz.,  all  that  can  af- 
fect sensibility.  The  term  'matter'  is  the  most  gen- 
eral abstract  of  its  kind  and  cannot  be  expressed  in 
terms  of  "mind-stuff,"  for  it  represents  a  certain  set 
of  experiences  which  Clifford  has  purposely  excluded 
from  his  conception  "mind-stuff." 

.     *  Clifford  uses  "  thing  in  itself"  in  a  peculiar  yet  quite  legitimate  sense, 
and  here  we  follow  Clifford. 


FEELING  AND  MOTION.  n 

Man's  method  of  understanding  the  processes  of 
nature  is  that  of  abstraction.  We  confine  our  atten- 
tion to  that  feature  alone  which  is  to  be  investigated 
and  we  eliminate  in  our  thought  the  others.  Thus,  when 
enquiring  into  the  laws  of  mathematics,  we  confine  our 
attention  to  the  mere  form  of  space,  and  deal  with 
non- material  points,  lines,  planes,  and  solids.  These 
non-material  points,  lines,  planes,  and  solids  are  not 
untrue  (as  Mill  imagined),  but  they  represent  one  ab- 
stract feature  only  which  can  never  be  found  by  itself. 
The  same  is  true  of  all  our  concepts.  Every  concept 
is  formed  for  some  purpose,  and  every  concept  by 
serving  one  purpose  necessarily  becomes  one-sided. 
It  leaves  out  of  sight  those  features  of  the  object 
represented  which  do  not  range  within  the  scope  of 
its  purpose.  We  may  invent  names  intended  to  cover 
the  whole  reality,  subjective  as  well  as  objective,  but 
these  names  will  become  inappropriate  as  soon  as  em- 
ployed for  some  other  purpose. 

If  I  consider  an  object,  I  may  inquire  into  the  ma- 
terial of  which  it  consists,  or  into  the  body's  form,  or 
its  motions.  For  instance,  a  chemist  making  a  spec- 
trum analysis  of  the  sun,  leaves  out  of  sight  the  size  of 
the  sun,  its  shape  and  motion.  He  confines  his  at- 
tention to  the  rays,  the  undulations  of  which  appear 
in  the  spectrum  as  colors  and  lines.  The  Frauenhofer 
lines  indicate  the  material  of  the  incandescent  body 
which  emits  the  rays.  An  astronomer,  however,  in- 
vestigating, its  shape, — say,  he  wants  to  know  whether 
it  is  a  perfect  sphere  or  flattened  at  the  poles — 
does  not  care  about  the  substances  of  which  the  sun 
consists.  And  supposing  he  investigates  the  sun's 
motion  in  its  relation  to  the  milky  way,  he  disregards 
entirely  substance  and  •form,  he  treats  the  sun  as  if  it 


12  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

were  a  mathematical  point  All  these  treatments  have 
in  common  the  method  of  abstraction.  The  astron- 
omer in  his  calculation  of  the  motion  of  the  sun  must 
not,  and  certainly  he  does  not,  think  that  the  sun  is  a 
mathematical  point,  although  this  conception  fits  into 
his  calculation  and  remains  correct  so  far  as  the  pur- 
pose of  his  abstraction  is  concerned.  Accordingly, 
for  every  abstraction  we  have  made,  we  must  bear  in 
mind  two  things  :  i)  the  purpose  it  has  to  serve  ;  and 
2)  that  the  totality  of  things  from  which  abstractions 
can  be  made,  is  one  indivisible  whole.  In  short  we 
must  not  forget  that  abstractions  are  only  one-sided 
views  of  things. 

Not  only  abstractions  but  every  single  word  is  made 
for  a  certain  purpose.  In  reality  objects  have  no 
separate  existence  ;  they  exist  in  a  constant  flux,  and 
the  full  and  exhaustive  comprehension  of  one  object 
would  include  a  comprehension  of  the  whole  universe. 
If  this  be  true  at  all,  it  is  most  true  of  ourselves.  The 
human  soul  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  a  certain  ac- 
tion of  the  universe  upon  one  part  of  the  universe  and 
the  reaction  following  thereupon.* 

There  are  philosophers  who  are  greatly  disappointed 
about  what  they  consider  a  deficiency  of  our  intellect ; 
viz.,  that  we  cannot  view  the  whole  at  once  in  all  its  de- 
tails. The  relativity  of  knowledge  has  unnecessarily 
been  lamented.  There  is  as  little  occasion  for  disap- 
pointment in  this  feature  of  cognition  as  in  the  fact 
that  our  vision  must  always  depend  upon  the  stand- 

*  See  "Fundamental  Problems,"  p.  147:  "Knowledge  becomes   possible 
only  when  we  fix  certain  percepts  and  give  their  relative  stability.  .....  It  is 

as  if  we  sat  in  an  express  train  and  were  looking  at  the  landscape  flitting  by 
us.  The  picture  taken  as  a  whole  swims  indistinctly  before  our  eyes.  If  we 
wish  to  get  a  clear  idea  of  the  situation,  we  must  allow  the  eye  to  rest  on  some 
one  object,  neglecting  the  others,"  etc.;  and  p.  149:  "In  reality  the  whole 
world  is  a  part  of  our  being,"  etc. 


FEELING  AND  MOTION.  13 

point  from  which  we  view  things,  and  that  if  we  look  at 
a  thing  from  one  side,  we  cannot  at  the  same  time  look 
at  it  from  the  other.  Why,  let  us  be  patient  and  look 
at  things  first  from  this  and  then  from  the  other  side. 
But  we  must  not  imagine  that  the  one  side  only  is 
true  reality,  the  noumenal  part  of  nature,  the  Ding  an. 
sitfi,  and  the  other  is  a  mere  illusion.  Nor  must  we 
declare  that  both  are  illusions,  and  that  true  reality  is 
something  unknowable  between  both.  Reality  is  every- 
thing that  is  or  can  become  object  of  experience  ;  both 
abstracts  accordingly  represent  something  that  is  real. 
Reality  is  not  in  the  one,  if  considered  alone  and  by 
itself,  nor  in  the  other  if  considered  alone  and  by  it- 
self, but  in  the  entire  whole.  The  one  as  well  as  the 
other  is  a  part  of  reality. 

We  can  under  no  circumstances  suppress  or  elimi- 
nate either  mind  (elements  of  feeling)  or  matter.  Nor 
can  we  express  the  one  in  the  terms  of  the  other, 
for  the  simple  reason,  that  each  concept  is  an  entirely 
different  abstract  containing  nothing  of  the  other. 
Nevertheless  both  are  parts  of,  and  are  abstracted 
from,  reality.  What  we  call  motion  represents  cer- 
tain features  of  our  experience.  Whatever  motions 
may  be  in  the  conception  of  beings  organized  other- 
wise than  we  are,  our  motion  experiences  remain 
marks  representative  of  real  processes  of  some  kind; 
and  feelings  are  certainly  no  less  actual  than  motions. 

We  may  represent  motion  or  we  may  represent 
mind  as  the  basis  of  the  world  or  we  may  conceive 
them  as  being  on  equal  terms. 

(1)  On  the  one  hand,  motion  may  be  conceived  as 
the    objective   realization   (a   kind    of    revelation)    in 
which  the  activity  of  the  elements  of  feeling  appears. 

(2)  On  the  other  hand,  motion   may  be  conceived 


I4  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

as  the  substratum  which  carries  the  more  ethereal  ele- 
ments of  feeling. 

(3)  If  neither  matter  nor  motion  is  to  be  consid- 
ered the  one  as  the  basis  of  the  other,  reality,  as  it 
exists  in  itself,  may  be  conceived  as  a  great  interacting 
something,  in  which  the  effects  of  all  the  surrounding 
parts  upon  one  special  part,  an  atom  or  a  monad,  in 
so  far  as  this  part  is  concerned,  appear  as  what 
we  have  defined  as  an  element  of  feeling ;  while  the 
effects  of  this  special  part,  of  every  atom  or  monad 
upon  the  rest,  in  so  far  as  the  totality  is  concerned, 
appear  as  motion. 

It  is  indifferent  which  view  we  take.  All  three 
conceptions  are  fundamentally  the  same,  although  if 
worked  out  they  would  show  a  difference  in  terminology 
that  must  let  them  appear  as  contradictory  systems. 
Upon  the  whole  I  should  give  preference  to  the  third 
conception  as  being  least  one-sided  and  most  une- 
quivocal in  representing  the  Oneness  of  all  reality. 

Matter  and  mind  (the  elements  of  feeling)  are  to 
be  considered  as  one — not  the  same,  but  one.  They 
are  as  inseparable  as  are  the  two  sides  of  a  sheet  of 
paper.  If  we  look  at  it  from  the  mind  side,  its  activity 
represents  itself  as  elements  of  feeling  and  all  kinds 
and  degrees  of  actual  feelings.  If  we  look  at  it  from 
the  matter  side,  its  activity  represents  itself  as  mo- 
tions, or  as  all  kinds  of  potential  and  kinetic  energy. 

* 
*  * 

There  is  one  point  which  needs  further  elucidation 
at  least  in  a  few  words.  Clifford  says  : 

"  Reason,  intelligence,  and  volition  are  properties  of  a  complex 
which  is  made  up  of  elements  themselves  not  rational,  not  intel- 
ligent, not  conscious." 

This  is  true  ;   for  we  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that 


FEELING  AND  MOTION.  15 

the  not-feeling  elements  of  feeling  develop  into  feeling 
and  the  not-rational  monad  develops  into  rational  man. 
Yet  we  must  at  the  same  time  emphasize  that  the  for- 
mal laws  according  to  which  these  not-feeling,  not- 
rational  elements  combine  into  higher  structures  en- 
dowed with  feeling  and  reason,  are  also  a  part  of  real- 
ity. The  formal  laws  which  are  the  raison  d'etre  of 
all  cosmic  order,  are  omnipresent  in  every  particle 
that  exists  ;  and  we  can  learn  to  understand  that  noth- 
ing will  stir,  or  change,  or  be,  unless  it  be  in  conform- 
ity to  the  law  of  causation  which  is  the  law  of  change, 
and  to  the  laws  of  form  in  general.* 

The  world  it  is  true  is  not  rational  in  its  elements  ; 
but  the  laws  of  the  world  are  the  prototype  of  ration- 
ality itself.  Human  reason  and  all  wisdom  of  any 
possible  rational  being  develops  from  these  conditions 
and  remains  in  accordance  with  the  formal  laws  of 
the  cosmos.  Human  reason  is  conformity  to,  it  is  an 
expression  of  the  order  of,  the  All.  The  order  of  the 
All  contains  the  possibility  of  developing  reason.  We 
have  perhaps  a  right  to  call  the  elements  of  reality 
not-rational,  but  we  commit  a  grave  mistake  when 
calling  the  All  irrational.  For  the  elements  of  being 
contain  the  origin  and  condition  of  all  reason.  Rea- 
son ceases  to  be  reason  as  soon  as  it  does  not  agree 
with  reality. 

*  See  the  chapter  "  Form  and   Formal  Thought  "   in  Fundamental  Prob 
terns,  p.  26. 


IS  THE  SOUL  A  MECHANISM? 


THE  question  has  often  been  proposed,  Is  Man  a 
Machine,  and  more  especially  is  the  Human  Soul  a 
Mechanism  ?  If  we  understand  by  soul  not  the  feel- 
ing that  accompanies  certain  physiological  processes 
of  the  brain,  but  the  physiological  activity  of  the  brain 
itself,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  every  thought  repre- 
sented by  the  motion  of  this  cur  that  cerebral  structure, 
every  wish  that  irritates  these  or  those  ganglionic  mo- 
tor cells,  whether  the  wish  be  suppressed  or  not,  every 
act  of  will  which  not  being  suppressed  by  stronger  in- 
hibitory impulses  passes  into  motion — in  short  all  the 
innumerable  motions  of  brain-activity  take  place 
strictly  in  agreement  with  mechanical  principles.  Cer- 
tain motions  are  accompanied  with  feelings,  while 
others  are  not  accompanied  with  feelings  (only  with 
elements  of  feelings).  Feeling,  however,  is  not  the 
product  of  a  force  ;  it  is  not  manufactured  out  of  energy ; 
its  appearance  does  not  depend  upon  the  disappear- 
ance of  a  portion  of  motion  ;  it  does  not  rise  in  ex- 
change for  motion. 

Leibnitz  says  : 

"  We  are  constrained  to  confess  that  perception  and  whatever 
depends  upon  it,  are  inexplainable  upon  mechanical  principles  ; 
that  is  by  reference  to  forms  and  movements.  If  we  could  imagine 
a  machine  the  operations  of  which  would  manufacture  thoughts, 
feelings,  and  perceptions,  and  could  think  of  it  as  enlarged  in  all 


SS  THE  SOUL  A  MECHANISM.  17 

its  proportions,  so  that  we  could  go  into  it  as  into  a  mill,  even  then 
we  would  find  in  it  nothing  but  particles  jostling  each  other,  and 
never  anything  by  which  perception  could  be  explained." 

Locke  expresses  a  similar  idea  : 

"  Body,  as  far  as  we  can  conceive,  being  able  only  to  strike 
and  affect  body  ;  and  motion,  according  to  the  utmost  reach  of  our 
ideas,  being  able  to  produce  nothing  but  motion,  so  that  when  we 
allow  it  to  produce  pleasure  or  pain,  or  the  idea  of  color  or  sound, 
we  are  fain  to  quit  our  reason,  go  beyond  our  ideas,  and  attribute 
it  wholly  to  the  good  pleasure  of  our  maker." 

Accordingly,  if  by  soul  we  understand  feelings, 
perceptions,  and  states  of  consciousness,  we  cannot 
say  that  man's  soul  is  a  mechanism.  But  feelings, 
perceptions,  and  states  of  consciousness  do  not  exist 
of  themselves.  They  represent  one  certain  side  of  a 
process  only,  the  other  side  being  a  certain  physiolog- 
ical activity  ;  and  although  there  is  no  sense  in  speak- 
ing of  the  mechanism  of  a  feeling,  there  is  sense  in 
speaking  of  the  mechanism  of  the  physiological  process 
which  subjectively  considered  appears  as  a  feeling. 

* 
*  * 

The  soul  has  often  been  compared  to  a  piano,  but 
the  simile  is  inappropriate  because  it  does  not  explain 
the  most  important  thing,  viz.,  the  mechanism  of  its 
functions.  Mr.  Spencer,  accordingly,  welcomes  the 
comparison  of  the  soul  to  a  piano  as  an  evidence  of 
the  inscrutability  of  psychical  processes.  He  says : 

' '  Ideas  are  like  the  successive  chords  and  cadences  brought 
out  from  a  piano,  which  successively  die  away  as  other  ones  are 
sounded.  And  it  would  be  as  proper  to  say  that  these  passing 
chords  and  cadences  thereafter  exist  in  the  piano,  as  it  is  proper 
to  say  that  passing  ideas  thereafter  exist  in  the  brain.  In  the  one 
case  as  in  the  other,  the  actual  existence  is  the  structure  which 

under  like  conditions  again  evolves  like  combinations The 

existence  in  the  subject  of  any  other  ideas  than  those  which  are 
passing,  is  pure  hypothesis  Absolutely  without  evidence  whatever." 


1 8  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

Dr.  Henry  Maudsley  who  quotes  this  passage  in 
his  "  Physiology  of  Mind,"  p.  70,  adds  : 

"  This  analogy,  when  we  look  into  it,  seems  more  captivating, 
than  it  is  complete.  What  about  the  performer  in  the  case  of  the 
piano  and  in  case  of  the  brain  respectively  ?  Is  not  the  performer 
a  not  undmportant  element,  and  necessary  to  the  completeness  of 
the  analogy  ?  The  passing  chords  and  cadences  would  have  small 
chance  of  being  brought  out  by  the  piano  if  they  were  not  pre- 
viously in  his  mind.  Where,  then,  in  the  brain  is  the  equivalent 
of  the  harmonic  conceptions  in  the  performer's  mind  ?  If  Mr. 
Spencer  supposes  that  the  individual's  mind,  his  spiritual  entity, 
is  detached  from  the  brain,  and  plays  upon  its  nervous  plexuses, 
as  the  performer  plays  upon  the  piano,  his  analogy  is  complete  ; 
but  if  not,  then  he  has  furnished  an  analogy  which  those  who  do 
take  that  view  may  well  thank  him  for.  There  is  this  difference 
between  the  passing  chords  and  cadences  of  the  piano  and  the 
passing  chords  and  cadences  in  the  brain — and  it  is  of  the  essence 
of  the  matter — that,  in  the  former  case,  the  chords  and  cadences 
do  pass  and  leave  no  trace  of  themselves  behind  in  the  structure  of 
the  piano  ;  while,  in  the  latter  case,  they  do  not  pass  or  die  away 
without  leaving  most  important  after-effects  in  the  structure  of  the 
brain  ;  whence  does  arise  in  due  time  a  considerable  difference 
between  a  cultivated  piano  and  a  cultivated  human  brain,  and 
whence  probably  have  arisen,  in  the  progress  of  development 
through  the  ages,  the  differences  between  the  brain  of  a  primeval 
savage  and  the  brain  of  Mr.  Spencer  ....  With  the  brain,  func- 
tion makes  faculty  ;  not  so  with  the  piano. " 

If  you  put  to  me,  the  question  for  instance:  How 
much  is  five  times  five  ?  I  shall  answer  Twenty-five. 
The  physiological  process  which  represents  in  my 
brain  the  act  of  perceiving  the  question  and  answering 
it,  is  perfectly  mechanical.  There  is  a  memory  struc- 
ture which  when  innervated  says,  "Five  times  five  is 
twenty-five."  If  any  one  asks,  "  How  much  is  five 
times  five  ?  "  it  is  this  question  which  as  soon  as  it  is 
perceived,  innervates  the  memory  structure  "five 
times  five  is  twenty-five  "  ;  and  possibly  it  awakens 
many  other  memories  associated  therewith.  I  may 


SS  THE  SOUL  A  MECHANISM.  19 

think  of  the  teacher  who  first  taught  me  arithmetic  ; 
or  the  picture  of  my  multiplication  table  may  appear 
before  my  eyes.  The  answer  "five  times  five  is  twenty- 
five"  is  under  ordinary  circumstances  accompanied 
with  feeling  or  consciousness. 

Not  every  instance  is  so  simple.  There  are  of 
course  mental  processes  that  are  much  more  compli- 
cated, but  there  is  not  one  in  which  the  motions  that 
take  place  in  the  brain  can  be  thought  of  as  being  not 
strictly  in  accordance  with  mechanical  laws  either  mole- 
cular or  molar.  The  poet's  fictions,  no  less  than  the 
schemes  of  the  inventor,  are  strictly  regulated  by  the 

mechanics  and  statics  of  mind-activity. 

* 
*  * 

There  is  a  peculiar  feature  in  soul-life  which  con- 
sists in  the  limitation  of  consciousness.  Similarly  as 
in  vision  only  one  object  at  a  time  can  be  in  the  cen- 
tral field  of  vision,  viz.,  in  the  yellow  spot  where  vision 
is  most  intense,  so  in  consciousness  one  idea  only, 
one  combination  of  ideas,  one  perception,  or  a  thought 
concerning  a  perception,  one  aim,  or  one  activity  can 
at  one  time  fill  this  centre  of  mental  life.  When 
several  ideas  are  awakened,  that  which  at  the  time  is 
strongest  will  attain  a  state  of  consciousness.  As  soon 
as  it  has  been  attended  to,  it  naturally  loses  its  in- 
terest, and  another  idea,  that  in  the  mean  time  has 
become  the  strongest  will  follow.  A  combination  of 
both  may  take  place  and  thus  new  thoughts,  discover- 
ies, inventions,  ideals,  may  grow  from  such  beginnings. 

Dr.  Montgomery  in  a  criticism  of  the  work  done 
by  The  Open  Court,*  introduces  the  term  "hyperme- 
chanical"  in  order  to  explain  the  selective  faculty 
represented  by  the  piano  player.  The  term  is  not  ad- 

*  See  Nos.  156  and  157  of  The  V)pen  Court. 


20  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

missible  because  that  "selective  faculty"  so-called  is 
perfectly  mechanical.  The  chief  progress  modern  psy- 
chology has  made,  is,  that  it  is  no  more  in  need  of  what 
Dr.  Montgomery  calls  "the  selective  faculty  of  hyper- 
mechanical  impulses." 

* 
*  # 

The  view  that  motions  produce  nothing  but  motion 
while  feelings  sometimes  accompany  certain  motions, 
should  not  be  conceived  in  any  dual  sense.  Feelings 
and  motions  run  parallel  to  each  other,  and  where  we 
do  not  meet  with  actual  feelings  we  suppose  the  pres- 
ence of  the  elements  of  feeling.  But  this  parallelism 
would  be  most  wonderful  indeed  if  it  were  a  true  paral- 
lelism consisting  of  two  different  and  distinct  lines. 
The  simplest  conception  of  the  case  is  the  monistic 
view,  which  considers  the  parallelism  as  an  identity. 
Both  motion  and  feeling  are  abstract  conceptions.  A 
motion  exists  of  itself  no  more  than  a  feeling.  The 
reality  from  which  the  ideas  motion  and  feeling  have 
been  abstracted  is  one  inseparable  whole,  which  if 
viewed  as  an  objective  process  appears  as  motion,  and 
if  viewed  from  the  subjective  side  appears  as  feeling. 
Feelings  can  only  be  felt,  not  seen  ;  but  if  we  could 
see  them,  we  might  observe  the  elements  of  feeling 
wherever  motion  takes  place. 

Fechner  seems  to  have  hit  the  mark,  when  he  com- 
pared feeling  and  motion  to  the  inside  and  the  outside 
curves  of  a  circle  ;  they  are  entirely  different  and  yet 
the  same.  The  inside  curve  is  concave,  the  outside 
curve  is  convex.  If  we  construct  rules  relating  first 
to  the  concave  inside  and  then  to  the  convex  outside, 
we  shall  notice  a  parallelism  in  the  formulas  ;  yet  this 
parallelism  will  appear  only  in  the  abstractions  which 
have  been  made  of  one  and  the  same  thing  from  a  dif- 


SS  THE  SOUL  A  MECHANISM.  21 

ferent  aspect.  It  results  from  making  two  different 
abstractions.  The  abstract  conceptions  form  two  par- 
allel systems,  but  the  real  thing  can  be  represented  as 
parallel  only  in  the  sense  that  it  is  parallel  to  itself ; 
it  is  the  parallelism  of  identity.  There  is  but  one  line, 
and  this  one  line  is  concave  if  viewed  from  the  inside, 
if  viewed  from  the  outside  convex. 

The  elements  of  feeling  do  not  by  simple  addition 
make  up  actual  feelings,  but  by  appearing  in  certain 
relations.  But  the  intensities  as  well  as  the  qualities 
of  feelings  depend  upon  special  conditions,  and  the 
proportions  between  perceptions  and  their  respective 
irritations  have  within  certain  limits  been  measured 
with  great  exactness. 

Weber  found  that  in  most  cases  the  quantity  of 
sensation  is  proportional  to  the  logarithm  of  the  quan- 
tity of  irritation.  Thus  an  irritation  expressed  by  10 
corresponds  to  a  sensation  expressed  by  i.  The  ir- 
ritation 100  would  not  give  10  x  i,  but  only  2  ;  viz.,  the 
logarithm  of  100.  The  increase  in  the  quantity  of  sen- 
sation can  be  represented  by  a  curve,  the  abscissas  of 
which  are  the  gradually  increasing  irritations,  while 
the  values  of  the  sensations  are  found  in  the  ordinates. 
The  perceptible  increment  of  sensation  depends  also 
upon  the  relative  quantity  of  the  increase  of  the  irrita- 
tion; and  the  measurement  of  this  "perceptible  incre- 
ment, "  asWeber  calls  it,  has  been  a  most  fruitful  method 
for  the  formulation  of  the  laws  of  psycho-physics. 

The  value  of  sensations  under  certain  conditions 
reaches  zero.  If  the  value  of  the  irritation  becomes 
equal  to  i,  the  sensation  reaches  what  Weber  calls  the 
threshold  of  perception.  On  and  below  the  thresh- 
old of  perception,  sensation  ceases,  i.  e.,  it  is  no  more 
noticeable,  its  value  is  zero. 


22  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

Psychophysics  was  founded  by  Weber,  to  whom 
the  idea  had  been  suggested  by  Herbart's  proposition 
to  treat  psychological  phenomena  according  to  mathe- 
matical methods,  so  that  we  should  acquire  the  data 
for  comprehending  the  statics  and  mechanics  of  men- 
tal operations.  Weber's  method  has  been  perfected 
by  Fechner,  Volkmann,  Appel,  and  many  other  inves- 
tigators. While  Weber's  law  that  the  perceptible  in- 
crement of  sensation  is  proportional  to  the  quantity  of 
irritation  had  to  be  restricted  to  certain  limits,  from 
which  the  greatest  and  the  smallest  intensities  are  ex- 
cluded, and  while  many  conclusions  derived  from  psy- 
chophysical  experiments  may  have  been  erroneous,  or 
at  least  mixed  up  with  errors ;  the  whole  science  of 
psychophysics  was  fully  justified  in  many  respects. 
The  very  exceptions  that  offered  themselves  were  in 
the  end  found  to  be  the  strongest  corroborations  of 
the  soundness  of  Weber's  law  as  well  as  his  methods.* 

*  See  Vortrcige  tiler  Psychophysik  von  Dr.  E.  Mach.  Oesterreichische  Zeit- 
schrift  filr  praktische  Heilkunde.  1863. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND. 


I.        WHAT    IS    MIND  ? 

WE  must  distinguish  between  two  kinds  of  facts ; 
viz.,  given  facts  or  data,  and  deduced  facts  or  infer- 
ences. With  regard  to  the  facts  of  soul-life  we  recog- 
nise that  the  former  class,  that  of  given  facts,  neces- 
sarily consists  of  states  of  consciousness  only  ;  they 
are  feelings  of  any  description,  varying  greatly  in  their 
nature.  They  are  different  in  the  rhythmical  forms  of 
their  vibrations,  in  their  intensity,  and  in  their  distinct- 
ness. The  latter  class,  that  of  inferences,  is  deduced 
from  the  former,  and  serves  no  other  purpose  than 
that  of  explanation.  This  class  is  mostly  representa- 
tive of  external  facts,  and  knowledge  of  external  facts 
exists  only  in  so  far  as  external  facts  are  represented 
in  deduced  facts.  What  a  thinking  being  would  call 
external  facts  is  nothing  but  the  contents  of  certain 
deduced  facts. 

Deduced  facts,  and  among  them  the  conception  of 
external  facts  (wherever  they  exist),  have  been  pro- 
duced by  the  effort  of  accounting  for  given  facts — viz., 
the  elementary  data  of  consciousness  and  their  rela- 
tions. Deduced  facts  are  the  interpretation  of  given 
facts.  They  are,  so  to  say,  conjectures  concerning 
their  causes  as  well  as  their  interconnections. 

The  organised  totality  of  deduced  facts,  as  it  is 
developed  in  feeling  substance,  is  called  mind.  Feel- 


24  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ings  are  the  condition  of  mind.  From  feelings  alone 
mind  can  grow.  But  there  is  a  difference  between  feel- 
ings and  mind.  Feelings  develop  into  mind,  they  grow 
to  be  mind  by  being  interpreted,  by  becoming  repre- 
sentative. Representative  feelings  are  mind.  Ac- 
cordingly, we  characterise  mind  as  the  representative- 
ness of  feelings. 

Although  deduced  facts  are  an  interpretation  of 
given  facts,  this  "interpretation"  is  not  expressly 
designed.  These  inferences  from  given  facts  are  not 
invented  with  a  premeditated  purpose  ;  they  are  not 
constructed  with  foresight  or  intention.  Deduced  facts 
grow  naturally  and  spontaneously  from  given  facts, 
which  are  the  elements  of  sense-activity.  There  is 
not  an  agent  that  oversees  their  fabrication  ;  there  is 
not  a  devising  "subject"  that  surmises  the  existence 
of  external  facts  and  thus  matures  their  conception 
into  deduced  facts.  Deduced  facts  are  rather  the  nat- 
ural product  of  a  certain,  group  of  given  facts.  De- 
duced facts  issue  from  a  co-operation  of  a  number  of 
feelings.  They  are  the  result  of  an  organisation  of 
certain  repeated  sense-impressions  which  produce  a 
disposition  not  only  to  receive  sense-impressions  of 
the  same  kind,  but  also  to  react  upon  them  in  a  certain 
way.  Mind  is  not  the  factor  that  organised  the  given 
facts  of  mere  sense-impressions  so  that  they  became 
representations.  There  was  no  rriind  as  long  as  feel- 
ings remained  unorganised.  Feelings  acquire  mean- 
ing ;  and  as  soon  as  they  have  acquired  meaning  they 
are  what  we  call  "deduced  facts,"  representations — 
especially  representations  of  external  facts.  Deduced 
facts  are  the  elements  of  mind  ;  and  mind  is  not  their 
root,  but  their  fruit. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  25 


II.        SUBJECTIVE    AND    OBJECTIVE    EXISTENCE. 

The  whole  domain  of  mind-activity  (i.  e.,  of  the  rep- 
resentativeness of  feelings)  is  called  subjective ;  while 
the  totality  of  all  facts  that  are  represented  in  the 
mind  is  called  objective.  Subjective  existence  consists 
of  feelings  and  of  states  of  consciousness;  objective 
existence  is  represented  as  things  that  are  in  motion. 
Motion  and  feeling  are  quite  different  things,  yet  in 
spite  of  their  radical  difference  experience  teaches  us 
that  both  spheres  are  intimately  interwoven.  Subjec- 
tive existence  constantly  draws  upon  objective  exist- 
ence. Not  only  do  states  of  consciousness  exist  as 
they  are  by  virtue  merely  of  the  objects  represented, 
but  also  that  group  of  facts  called  our  body,  the  ac- 
tion of  which  appears  in  a  constant  connection  with 
and  as  a  condition  of  our  consciousness,  is  kept  in 
running  order  only  through  a  constant  renewal  of  its 
waste  products  out  of  the  resources  of  objective  ex- 
istence. 

We  distinguish  between  our  body  and  external 
facts  ;  but  the  boundary  between  both  provinces  is 
not  distinct.  There  is  constantly  an  exchange  of  sub- 
stance taking  place,  proving  that  our  body  is  in  kind 
not  different  from  the  substance  of  which  external  facts 
consist.  It  must  be  regarded  as  a  group  of  the  same 
kind  as  external  facts,  existing  in  a  constant  interac- 
tion with  and  among  the  external  facts.  In  other 
words,  the  body  of  the  thinking  subject  is  an  object 
in  the  objective  world. 

Concerning  the  subjective  sphere  of  existence  we 
recognise  that  consciousness  does  not  act  uninterrupt- 
edly; there  are  moments  when  consciousness  is  lost.  If 


26  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

they  are  normal,  we  call  them  sleep  ;  if  they  are  abnor- 
mal, swoons  or  trances.  Former  conscious  states  can 
be  revived  ;  they  form  a  chain  of  memories  which  is 
very  limited  in  comparison  with  the  extension  of  the 
objective  world.  There  is  a  time  in  the  past  beyond 
which  our  memory  does  not  reach.  Moreover  we 
have  reason  to  believe,  that  there  will  be  a  time  when 
the  chain  of  conscious  states  will  be  broken  forever. 
This  consummation  is  called  death.  In  short  the  sub- 
jective world  is  transient ;  it  grows  by  degrees ;  its 
existence  is  very  precarious  ;  it  flickers  like  a  candle 
in  the  wind  and  will  disappear  again.  The  objective 
world  however  is  eternal,  it  is  indestructible.  Ex- 
perience teaches  that  it  constantly  undergoes  changes, 
but  that  in  its  totality  it  is  imperishable. 

The  objective  world  is  in  a  certain  sense  a  part  of 
the  subject.  In  another  sense,  we  must  say  that  the 
subject  is  a  part  of  the  objective  world.  Indeed  these 
two  sentences  represent  the  same  truth,  only  viewed 
from  two  standpoints.  The  subjective  world  being 
transient  and  the  objective  world  being  eternal,  the 
question  presents  itself,  "How  does  the  subject  orig- 
inate in  or  among  the  objects  of  the  objective  world  ?  " 

The  problem  is  complicated  and  we  must  approach 
it  step  by  step.  First,  we  are  inevitably  driven  to 
the  conclusion,  that  the  subjective  world  of  feelings 
forms  an  inseparable  whole  together  with  a  special 
combination  of  certain  facts  of  the  objective  world, 
namely  our  body.  It  originates  with  this  combination, 
and  disappears  as  soon  as  that  combination  breaks  to 
pieces.  And,  secondly,  we  must  assume  that  the  con- 
ditions for  building  up  such  material  dispositions  as 
have  the  power  of  developing  the  subjectivity  of  con- 
sciousness are  an  intrinsic  quality  of  the  objective 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  27 

world.  Subjectivity  cannot  originate  out  of  nothing  ; 
it  must  be  conceived  as  the  product  of  a  co-operation 
of  certain  elements  which  are  present  in  the  objective 
world.  In  other  words,  the  elements  of  the  subjective 
world  are  features  that  we  must  suppose  to  be  insepar- 
ably united  with  the  elements  of  the  objective  world, 
which  are  represented  in  our  mind  as  motions.  This 
leads  to  the  conclusion  that  feeling  has  to  be  considered 
not  as  a  simple  but  as  a  complex  phenomenon.  Feel- 
ings as  explained  in  the  first  chapter,  originate  through 
a  combination  of  elements  of  feeling  ;  and  the  presence 
of  the  elements  of  feeling  must  be  supposed  to  be  an 
intrinsic  property  of  the  objective  world.  The  ob- 
jective elements,  the  action  of  which  is  accompanied 
with  the  elements  of  feeling,  arrange  themselves,  we 
suppose,  into  such  combinations  as  display  actual  feel- 
ings, in  exact  agreement  with  the  laws  of  molar  and 
molecular  mechanics.  This,  we  must  assume,  takes 
place  with  the  same  spontaneity  as,  for  instance,  an 
acid  and  a  base  combine  into  a  salt.  To  use  another 
example,  it  takes  place  with  the  same  necessity  as, 
under  special  conditions,  a  certain  amount  of  molar 
motion  is  transformed  into  the  molecular  motion  of 
ether-waves,  called  electricity.  Motions  are  not  trans- 
formed into  feelings,  but  certain  motions  (all  being 
separately  accompanied  with  elements  of  feeling), 
when  co-operating  in  a  special  form,  are  accompanied 
in  that  form  with  actual  feelings. 


III.       HOW    FEELINGS    ACQUIRE    MEANING. 

There  is  a  certain  class  of  philosophers  who  look 
upon  feeling  as  an  incidental  effect,  as  a  fortuitous  by- 
play of  the  interacting  elements  of  matter.  This  con- 


28  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ception  has  little  if  anything  in  its  favor.  On  the  con- 
trary, if  the  elements  of  feeling  are  throughout  in- 
separably connected  with  the  elements  of  objective  ex- 
istence, it  must  appear  natural  that  wherever  the  con- 
ditions fitted  for  organised  life  appear,  irritable  sub- 
stance will  originate.  We  may  fairly  assume  that  feel- 
ing will  arise  on  the  cooled  surface  of  a  planet  with 
the  same  necessity  as,  for  instance,  a  collision  between 
non-luminous  celestial  bodies  will  cause  them  to  blaze 
forth  in  the  brilliant  light  of  a  nebula  containing  all 
the  elements  for  the  production  in  the  course  of  ages 
of  a  planetary  system. 

Wherever  a  combination  of  substances  originates 
that  displays  the  quality  of  feeling,  it  will  form  a  basis 
for  given  facts  of  soul-life.  Feeling  substance  having 
been  exposed  to  a  special  stimulus,  or  having  per- 
formed a  certain  function,  has  thereby  undergone  a 
rearrangement  in  its  molecular  parts.  The  structure 
has  suffered  a  change  in  its  configuration,  the  form 
of  which  is  preserved  in  the  general  flux  of  matter, 
and  there  is  thus  produced  in  the  feeling  substance 
a  disposition  to  respond  more  quickly  to  impressions 
of  the  same  kind.  The  feeling  accompanying  a  subse- 
quent impression  of  the  same  nature  is  coincidently  felt 
to  be  a  revival  of  a  former  feeling,  similar  or  the  same 
in  kind.  In  other  words,  feeling  substance,  preserving 
the  forms  of  its  functions,  is  possessed  with  memory.* 
The  preservation  of  form  in  a  function  which  is  ac- 
companied with  feeling  makes  it  possible  that  the  feel- 
ing accompanying  a  special  form  of  function  will  be- 
come a  mark  of  signification.  By  being  felt  to  be  the 

*  Memory  is  no  mysterious  power ;  it  is  the  preservation  of  form  in  feeling 
organisms.  See  Ewald  Hering's  treatise  on  Memory,  English  translation  in 
Nos.  6  and  7  of  The  Open  Court.  Compare  also  the  author's  article  Soul-life 
and  the  Preservation  of  Form,  in  this  book, 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  29 

same  in  kind  as  a  former  feeling  it  will  come  to  denote 
a  certain  condition  of  feeling  tissues.  A  feeling  that  is 
felt  to  be  the  same  as  or  similar  in  kind  to  a  former 
feeling,  the  revival  or  memory  of  which  it  causes,  is 
in  this  way  endowed  with  meaning  ;  by  which  we  un- 
derstand the  awareness  of  the  congruence  or  similarity 
of  two  or  several  feelings.  Thus  in  the  lapse  of  time, 
by  constantly  renewed  experience,  one  special  feeling, 
whenever  repeated,  will  naturally  become  the  indica- 
tor showing  the  presence  of  certain  external  facts  that 
cause  it.  An  isolated  feeling  is  naturally  meaningless  ; 
yet  through  a  preservation  of  form,  viz.,  through 
memory,  it  is  by  repetition  necessarily  changed  into  a 
symbol  of  representative  value. 

Feelings,  accordingly,  in  the  course  of  time,  neces- 
sarily acquire  meaning ;  they  naturally  and  spontane- 
ously develop  mind.  They  can  as  little  avoid  co- 
ordinating into  a  mental  organism,  as  water  at  a  low 
temperature  can  escape  congealing  into  ice ;  or  as  a 
seed  can  keep  from  sprouting  when  it  is  exposed,  with 
sufficient  moisture,  to  the  light.  Mind,  accordingly, 
is  the  necessary  outcome  of  a  combination  of  feelings. 
It  is  as  necessary  an  effect  of  special  causes,  as,  for 
example,  a  triangle  is  the  product  of  a  combination 
of  three  lines.  The  first  step  in  the  organisation  of 
feeling,  which  will  throughout  remain  the  determining 
feature  of  its  development,  is  the  fact  that  with  the 
help  of  memory  the  different  sets  of  feeling  acquire 
meaning,  and  in  this  way  the  mere  feelings  are  trans- 
formed from  given  facts  into  deduced  facts. 

IV.       SUBJECTIVITY    AND    OBJECTIVITY. 

The  nature  of  given  facts  is  subjectivity,  while  the 
character  of  inferred  facts  is  objectivity.  The  latter 


3o  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

having  grown  out  of  the  former  will  nevertheless,  so 
far  as  they  are  states  of  consciousness,  always  remain 
subjective ;  yet  they  contain  representations  of  that 
which  is  delineated  by  certain  given  facts.  Thus  they 
contain  an  element  which  stamps  upon  them  the  nature 
of  objectivity.  They  represent  objects,  the  existence 
of  which  the  feeling  subject  cannot  help  assuming, 
because  this  is  the  simplest  way  of  indicating  certain 
changes  that  are  not  caused  within  the  realm  of  its 
own  subjectivity. 

Objectivity,  accordingly,  does  not  mean  absolute 
objectivity.  Objectivity  means  subjective  states,  i.  e, 
given  facts  or  feelings  representative  of  outside  facts, 
i.  e.,  of  facts  that  are  not  subjective,  but  objective. 

9 

V.       THE    PROJECTION    OF    OBJECTIVE    FACTS. 

The  sense-impression  of  a  white  rectangle  covered 
with  little  black  characters  is  a  given  fact ;  yet  the 
aspect  of  a  sheet  of  paper  is  an  inferred  fact.  The 
former  is  a  subjective  state  within ;  the  latter  is  the 
representation  of  an  objective  thing  without.  The 
process  of  representing  is  a  function  of  the  subject,  but 
the  fact  represented  is  projected  as  it  were  into  the 
objective  world,  where  experience  has  taught  us  to  ex- 
pect it.  And  the  practice  of  projection  grows  so  natur- 
ally by  inherited  adaptation  and  repeated  experience 
that  the  thing  represented  appears  to  us  to  be  external. 
We  no  longer  feel  a  sensation  as  a  state  of  conscious- 
ness but  conceive  it  as  an  independent  reality. 

The  practice  of  projecting  subjective  sensations  into 
the  outside  world  is  not  an  act  of  careless  inference, 
but  the  inevitable  result  of  a  natural  law.  This  natural 
law  is  that  of  the  "economy  of  labor."  When  a  blind 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  31 

man  has  undergone  a  successful  operation,  he  will  first 
have  the  consciousness  of  vague  color-sensations  taking 
place  in  his  eye.  Experience  will  teach  him  the 
meaning  of  these  color-sensations  and  his  motions  will 
inform  him  where  to  find  the  corresponding  outside 
facts.  His  consciousness  will  more  and  more  be  con- 
centrated upon  the  meaning  of  the  sensations.  The 
less  difficulty  he  has  in  arriving  at  their  proper  inter- 
pretation, the  more  unconscious  his  sense-activity  will 
become  and  at  length  consciousness  will  be  habitually 
attached  to  the  result  of  the  sensation  alone,  i.  e.,  to 
its  interpretation. 

In  the  same  way,  every  one  who  learns  to  play  an 
instrument  will  first  feel  that  part  only  which  his  hand 
touches.  By  and  by,  however,  he  will  acquire  a  con- 
sciousness of  the  effects  produced  by  the  slightest 
touch.  Constant  practice  forms  in  the  brain  of  an  ex- 
pert certain  living  structures  which  are  correspondent 
to  the  action  of  the  instrument  and  represent  it  with 
great  accuracy.  Whenever  these  structures  are  stimu- 
lated, the  action  of  the  instrument  is  felt  to  take  place. 
In  this  way  consciousness  is  projected  into  the  work 
performed  by  the  instrument.  The  touch  of  the  hand 
has  become  purely  automatic,  and  the  operator  now 
feels  the  full  effects  of  his  manipulation  although  he 
is  not  in  direct  contact  with  all  the  parts  of  his  instru- 
ment. The  instrument  becomes  as  if  alive  under  his 
treatment,  he  feels  it  as  a  part  of  himself ;  for  its  action 
stands  en  rapport  with  his  brain-activity. 

VI.       THE    SUBJECT-SUPERSTITION  AND    AGNOSTICISM. 

States  of  consciousness,  collectively  considered, 
have  been  termed  "subject,"  and  we  have  also  em- 


32  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ployed  the  phrase  "subjective  world."  But  we  must 
not  forget  the  fact,  that  the  adoption  of  the  name 
"subject"  is  based  upon  a  misconception.  Subject 
means  "  that  which  underlies,"  and  the  subject  was 
supposed  to  be  that  something  which  formed  the  basis 
of  all  the  states  of  consciousness  present  in  any  one  spe- 
cial case — in  you  or  in  me,  or  in  any  person  like  you 
and  me.  The  subject  was  considered  as  a  being  that 
was  in  possession  of  sense-impressions,  of  feelings,  of 
thoughts,  of  intentions,  etc. ;  and  the  existence  of  this 
subject  was  proved  by  Descartes's  famous  syllogism 
Co  git  o  ergo  sum.  The  subject  was  supposed  to  produce 
the  states  of  consciousness,  while  in  fact  (as  we  have 
explained  above)  it  is  exactly  the  opposite.  Feelings 
change  into  mind,  they  produce  the  subject  which 
thinks.  The  subject  is  nothing  underlying  but  rather 
overlying.  It  is  the  growth  out  of  and  upon  feelings. 
It  is  the  sum  of  many  feelings  in  a  state  of  organisation. 

The  fallacy  of  Descartes's  dictum  has  been  pointed 
out  by  Kant.  The  existence  of  states  of  consciousness, 
or  the  fact  cogito,  does  not  prove  the  existence  of  some- 
thing that  underlies  the  states  of  consciousness.  It 
simply  proves  the  existence  of  feelings  and  thoughts. 
There  are  certain  sense-impressions,  there  are  percep- 
tions, there  are  ideas.  Ideas  develop  from  percep- 
tions, and  perceptions  develop  from  sense-impressions. 
States  of  consciousness  are  nothing  but  the  awareness 
or  the  feeling  that  is  connected  with  certain  percep- 
tions and  ideas. 

Descartes's  subjectivism  is  a  transitory  phase  lead- 
ing from  the  authoritative  objectivism  of  the  middle 
ages  to  the  critical  objectivism  of  modern  times.  The 
authoritative  philosophy  of  the  Schoolmen  yielded  to 
the  arbitrary  philosophy  of  metaphysical  subjectivity, 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  33 

commencing  as  a  matter  of  principle  with  doubt,  in- 
stead of  commencing  with  positive  data,  and  establish- 
ing anarchy  through  lack  of  any  objective  method  of 
arriving  at  truth.  The  reaction  against  the  arbitrary 
authority  of  scholasticism  was  indispensable  to  fur- 
ther progress.  But  we  must  not  rest  satisfied  with  its 
negative  result.  We  cannot  commence  a  business 
without  capital  and  without  making  a  start.  So  we 
cannot  begin  philosophy  with  nothing.  Knowledge  is 
not  possible  without  positive  facts  to  serve  as  a  basis 
to  stand  upon. 

The  negative  features  of  Descartes's  philosophy 
naturally  found  their  ultimate  completion  in  agnosti- 
cism. The  assumption  of  the  existence  of  a  subject 
led  to  the  doctrine,  that  this  subject  is  unknowable. 
Moreover,  the  assumption  of  something  that  underlies 
the  acts  of  thought  leads  to  the  assumption  of  some- 
thing that  underlies  objective  existence,  and  thus  it  be- 
gets the  theory  of  things  in  themselves.  This  theory 
involves  us  in  innumerable  contradictions  and  thus  it 
ends  ultimately  in  the  proposition  that  things  in  them- 
selves are  unknowable. 

There  are  few  who  know  the  historical  meaning  of 
agnosticism  ;  but  those  who  can  survey  philosophical 
thought  in  its  evolution,  its  growth,  and  decay,  know 
that  agnosticism  means  failure  in  philosophy.  The 
word  is  a  foreign-sounding  name  for  "knownothing- 
ism,"  denoting  a  half-concealed  confession  of  bank- 
ruptcy. The  philosophy  of  the  future,  in  order  to  es- 
cape from  the  fatal  consequences  of  agnosticism,  has 
to  discard  the  subject-superstition  inherited  from  Des- 
cartes. Descartes  was  a  great  thinker,  a  star  of  first 
magnitude  in  the  realm  of  thought,  but  it  is  time  that, 
without  returning  to  the  authoritative  philosophy  of 


34  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  Schoolmen,  we  should  free  ourselves  from  the 
errors  of  his  one-sided  subjectivism. 

Let  us  not  forget,  that  all  subjective  states  contain 
an  objective  element.  Objectivity  is  no  chimera,  and 
we  are  very  well  enabled  to  establish  the  truth  or  un- 
truth of  objective  facts.  The  philosophy  of  the  future, 
accordingly,  will  be  a  philosophy  of  facts,  it  will  be 
positivism  ;  and  in  so  far  as  a  unitary  systematisation 
of  facts  is  the  aim  and  ideal  of  all  science,  it  will  be 
MONISM. 

From  the  standpoint  of  positivism,  the  subject,  in 
the  old  sense,  does  not  exist,  and  things  in  themselves 
do  not  exist  either.  Their  existence  is  an  unwar- 
ranted assumption,  a  superstition  of  philosophy,  and 
we  can  retain  the  word  subject  only  on  the  condition 
of  a  complete  change  of  its  meaning.  The  word  sub- 
ject, accordingly,  (which  has  acquired  a  place  in  phil- 
osophical language  and  is  for  several  purposes  quite 
an  appropriate  expression,)  must  be  corrected  so  as 
to  mean,  not  an  underlying  substratum,  nor  an  agent 
which  does  the  thinking,  but  simply  a  collective  term 
designating  a  certain  group  of  sense-impressions,  per- 
ceptions, ideas,  and  volitions.  These  sense-impres- 
sions, perceptions,  ideas,  and  volitions,  which  form, 
simultaneously  as  well  as  successively,  the  elements  of 
soul-life,  carrying  consciousness  upon  the  waves  of 
many  subconscious  states,  make  up  the  reality  of  the 
subject ;  they  are  the  facts  of  its  existence,  and  it  is 
the  states  of  consciousness  only,  not  an  underlying 
something,  the  existence  of  which  is  beyond  all  doubt. 
They  form  the  basis  of  all  knowledge. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.       35 


VII.   THE  OBJECTIVE  ELEMENT  IN  SUBJECTIVE  STATES. 

We  must  bear  in  mind  that  states  of  feeling  are 
not  empty  feelings,  but  always  feelings  of  a  certain 
kind.  There  is  no  consciousness  pure  and  simple,  but 
only  consciousness  of  a  certain  state.  Let  us  suppose, 
for  instance,  the  consciousness  of  a  certain  pressure. 
What  is  it  but  a  feeling  of  being  pressed  in  a  cer- 
tain direction  and  with  a  certain  intensity  ?  If  a  cer- 
tain pressure  is  resisted,  the  feeling  indicates  a  state 
of  active  reaction  against  pressure,  and  experience 
teaches  by  comparison  with  other  pressures  how  much 
counterpressure  is  necessary  to  resist  or  overcome  it. 

Among  the  states  of  consciousness  there  are  ac- 
cordingly some  that  represent  an  awareness  of  receiving 
impressions,  and  there  are  others  of  making  impres- 
sions. There  are  some  feelings  of  a  passive  nature, 
which  are  felt  to  be  produced  by  impacts  from  a  some- 
thing that  is  not  the  subject,  and  there  are  other  feel- 
ings of  an  active  nature,  which  are  felt  to  produce 
effects  on  something  that  is  not  the  subject.  This 
something  that  is  not  the  subject  is  called  "object." 
It  is  represented  as  lying  outside  the  subject,  although 
the  latter  stands  in  a  close  and  inseparable  relation  to 
the  object,  which,  so  far  as  this  relation  is  considered, 
forms  a  part  of  the  subject.  A  given  subjective  state 
possesses  a  definite  form  ;  it  exists  as  it  is  on  account 
of  the  object  only ;  for  its  form  has  been  produced  by 
its  relation  to  the  object,  and  it  represents  this  relation. 
The  object,  therefore,  is  no  unimportant  part  of,  and 
indeed  is  an  essential  element  in,  the  constitution  of 
the  subjective  state. 

Idealist  philosophers  are  apt  to  say  that  the  sub- 


36  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ject  alone  is  known  to  us,  while  the  existence  of  the 
object  must  forever  remain  a  vague  hypothesis.  This, 
however,  is  incorrect.  It  involves  an  unjustifiable  dep- 
recation of  the  objective  element  in  the  given  facts 
of  conscious  states,  and  is  based  on  a  misconception 
of  the  entire  state  of  things.  The  data  of  knowledge 
are  not  mere  subjective  states,  they  are  relations  be- 
tween subject  and  object.  Neither  the  subject  is  given, 
nor  the  object ;  but  an  interaction  between  subject  and 
object.  From  this  interaction  we  derive  by  a  very 
complicated  process  of  abstraction  both  concepts,  the 
subject  as  well  as  the  object.  It  is  true  that  the  sub- 
jective world  of  feelings  and  of  representative  feeling 
is  very  different  from  the  objective  world  of  things. 
Nevertheless  they  are  one.  The  subject  together  with 
all  objects  forms  one  inseparable  whole  of  subject- 
object-ness. 

Every  special  object,  accordingly,  must  be  con- 
ceived as  a  part  of  this  inseparable  whole — of  the  All ; 
it  is  a  certain  set  of  facts,  represented  in  a  certain 
group  of  experiences,  and  is  to  be  described  as  that 
something  which  in  a  special  way  affects  the  subject 
and  can  again  in  a  special  way  be  reacted  upon  by  the 
subject. 

Here  we  have  the  clue  for  the  proper  meaning 
of  objectivity.  What  is  a  piece  of  lead  but  something 
that  at  a  definite  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  earth 
exerts  a  certain  pressure  proportionate  to  its  mass ; 
that  is  seen  to  become  liquid  at  a  certain  tempera- 
ture; etc.,  etc.?  If  it  is  treated  in  a  particular  way, 
it  will  be  observed  to  suffer  certain  changes.  What 
lead  is  has  been  established  by  experience ;  i.  e.,  by 
systematic  observation  through  sense-impressions. 

From  this  standpoint  the  differences  between  the 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  37 

schools  of  idealism  and  realism  appear  as  antiquated. 
The  questions  whether  matter  is  real,  whether  objects 
exist,  and  whether  there  is  any  reality  at  all,  have  lost 
their  meaning.  That  which  produces  effects  upon  the 
subject  and  against  which  the  subject  does  or  can  re- 
act, is  called  object.  The  sense-effects  produced  by 
the  object  upon  the  subject,  and  also  the  reactions  of 
the  subject  upon  the  object,  are  realities  ;  and  every 
name  of  a  special  object  signifies  a  certain  group  of 
such  effects  and  their  respective  reactions.  Thus,  for 
instance,  the  word  lead  comprises  a  certain  set  of  ex- 
periences that  have  always  been  found  combined  with 
certain  whitish  objects. 

Some  philosophers  have  denied  not  only  the  ex- 
istence of  objects,  but  also  the  reality  of  space.  What 
is  space  but  a  certain  group  of  experiences  ?  The  con- 
ception of  space  originates  by  moving  and  by  being 
moved  about.  The  conception  of  space  is  the  con- 
sciousness that  by  moving,  or  by  being  moved,  a  change 
is  effected  ;  that  is,  a  certain  object  serving  as  a  point 
of  reference  is  either  approached  or  left  at  a  greater 
distance.  The  acts  of  approach  or  withdrawal  are  as 
much  realities  as  are  any  other  acts  of  the  subject.  Dis- 
cussions concerning  the  reality  of  space  accordingly 
become  mere  verbal  quibbles  as  soon  as  we  under- 
stand by  space  the  condition  common  to  all  motion- 
experiences. 

VIII.       HALLUCINATIONS    AND    ERRORS. 

The  mental  state  in  which  through  contact  with 
external  facts  one  or  several  of  the  senses  are  affected 
so  as  to  produce  a  direct  awareness  of  their  pres- 
ence, is  called  perception.  .The  effects  of  external 


38  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

facts  upon  the  sense  of  touch  appear  as  different  forms 
of  resistance.  To  the  other  senses  they  appear  as 
odors,  tastes,  sounds,  and  images.  All  these  sensa- 
tions are  so  many  subjective  methods  of  representing 
certain  objective  processes.  Perceptions  represent  im- 
mediate reality  because  the  objects  perceived,  i.  e.,  the 
objects  represented  by  an  image  in  the  eye,  a  taste  on 
the  tongue,  etc.,  are  in  an  immediate  contact  with 
our  senses.  The  feeling  subject  is  directly  conscious 
of  their  existence  by  their  present  effects.  They  are 
our  Anschauung,  i.  e.,  the  living  presence  of  objective 
reality. 

Besides  this  living  presence  of  objective  reality,  of 
which  our  immediate  surroundings  consist, — besides 
our  Anschauung — ,  man  is  in  possession  of  more  gen- 
eral representations,  which  comprise  all  the  memories 
of  a  certain  class  of  percepts.  We  call  them  con- 
cepts. Man  alone  through  the  mechanism  of  word- 
symbols  has  been  able  to  form  concepts.  Abstract 
reasoning  as  well  as  scientific  thought  will  grow  with 
the  assistance  of  concepts  in  the  course  of  a  higher 
development. 

The  higher  we  rise  in  the  evolution  of  representa- 
tive feelings,  i.  e.,  in  the  development  of  mind,  the 
more  numerous  are  ike  opportunities  for  going  astray. 
A  scientific  hypothesis,  if  erroneous,  is  more  sweeping 
in  its  fallacies  than  a  single  hallucination,  which  is  a 
misinterpretation  merely  of  certain  feelings.  The  sub- 
jective part  of  an  hallucination,  namely  the  feeling 
itself,  is  real  ;  but  the  objective  part,  the  representa- 
tive element  of  the  feeling,  is  not  real ;  that  which  it 
is  supposed  to  mean,  does  not  exist.  The  interpreta- 
tion of  the  feeling  is  erroneous  in  an  hallucination. 

Hallucinations  are  possible,  and   in  the  more  ab- 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  39 

stract  domains  of  mental  activity  errors  are  possible 
also  ;  and  will  be  ever  more  frequent.  Nevertheless 
the  reality  of  outside  facts  in  the  sense  stated  above 
can  as  little  be  doubted  as  the  reality  of  immediate 
perception ;  and  all  the  facts  established  by  science,  if 
they  are  but  true,  are  as  much  realities  as  is  the  re- 
sistance of  the  table  to  the  pressure  of  my  hand  or 
the  perception  of  the  sheet  of  paper  by  my  eye. 

Facts  established  by  science  are  those  observations 
which  are  made  with  all  the  necessary  exactness  as 
well  as  completeness  from  certain  groups  of  expe- 
riences, and  formulated  with  precision.  The  theory 
of  atoms,  for  instance,  is  true  in  so  far  as  all  elements 
combine  in  certain  proportions,  which  shows  that  the 
ultimate  particles  of  which  the  elements  consist  are 
of  a  definite  mass.  Atoms,  if  the  word  is  understood 
in  this  sense,  are  realities.  The  theory  of  atoms,  how- 
ever, is  not  proved  in  the  sense  that  atoms  are  aro- 
)JLOI  ;  or  single,  isolated,  minute  bodies  of  a  peculiar 
individuality — separate,  indivisible,  and  eternal  enti- 
ties. Whether  they  are  concrete  things  or  certain 
forms  of  motion  in  a  continuous  substance,  whether 
they  are  vortices  or  whirls  of  a  certain  density  and 
velocity  in  an  ether  ocean,  or  whatever  else  be  their 
character,  is  not  yet  known.  If  we  exclude  from  the 
concept  "atoms "all  hypothetical  views  and  confine 
their  meaning  strictly  to  the  formulation  of  certain  ex- 
periences, we  have  to  deal  with  facts  that  are  real. 
Theories  are  true  in  so  far  as  they  comprehend  in  a 
formula  a  certain  group  of  facts,  and  a  hypothesis  be- 
comes reliable  to  the  extent  that  it  agrees  with  facts. 
The  slightest  actual  disagreement  with  facts  is  suf- 
ficient to  overthrow  the  most  ingenious  hypothesis. 


4.0  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

This  leads  us  to  the  question,  What  is  meant  by 
true  ?     What  is  truth  ? 


IX.        FACTS    AND    REALITY.        TRUTH    AND    MIND. 

The  epitheton  "true"  has  reference  to  represen- 
tative states  only.  A  representation  is  true,  if  it  con- 
forms to,  or  agrees  with,  experience  ;  in  other  words, 
if  it  is  an  interpretation  of  given  facts,  is  free  from 
contradiction,  and  nowhere  collides  with  any  one  of 
the  given  facts  and  their  consistent  interpretation. 
There  is  no  sense  in  speaking  of  mere  feelings  as 
being  true.  WTe  can  never  meet,  in  our  own  expe- 
rience, with  given  facts  that  are  nothing  but  meaning- 
less feelings ;  for  we  (as  thinking  beings)  are  incapable 
of  bringing  meaningless  feelings  into  the  scope  of  con- 
sciousness, since  in  the  very  act  of  thinking  we  com- 
ment upon  the  given  facts  of  our  feelings.  But  suppos- 
ing there  are  mere  given  facts,  mere  meaningless 
feelings  void  of  any  representative  element,  the  appli- 
cation of  the  word  true  to  such  non-representative 
feelings  would  be  improper.  States  of  consciousness 
become  true  or  untrue  only  by  being  representative  of 
objective  conditions  or  things.  There  is  no  trace  of 
truth  in  mere  feelings,  but  only  in  representative  feel- 
ings. Truth  and  error  are  the  privilege  of  mind.  A 
representation  is  true,  if  all  the  various  experiences 
concerning  a  certain  thing  or  state  of  things  agree 
with  the  representation  ;  it  is  untrue  if  they  do  not 
agree. 

We  observe  that  certain  classes  of  facts,  in  spite 
of  all  variety,  exhibit  in  one  or  another  respect  a 
sameness,  and  science  attempts  to  express  the  same^ 
ness  in  exact  formulas.  These  formulas  we  call  natural 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  41 

laws.  If  a  natural  law  covers  all  cases  of  a  class  that 
have  come  or  even  that  possibly  can  come  within  the 
range  of  our  experience,  if  it  agrees  with  every  one  of 
them,  we  call  it  a  truth. 

"  Truth  "  accordingly  is  not  at  all  identical  with 
"fact. "  These  two  words  are  often  used  as  synonyms, 
but  properly  employed  they  are  quite  distinct.  Truth 
is  the  agreement  of  a  representation  with  the  facts 
represented.  The  fall  of  a  stone  is  a  fact ;  it  is  an  in- 
ferred fact  deduced  from  certain  sense-impressions. 
In  so  far  as  the  inference  is  made  with  necessity  as 
the  only  proper  and  simplest  explanation  of  a  certain 
given  fact  or  sense-impression,  it  must  be  considered 
as  a  fact  or  as  real.  The  law  of  gravitation,  however, 
is  not  a  fact,  but  a  truth. 

Facts  are  real.  There  is  no  sense  in  speaking  of 
facts  as  being  true.  Representations  of  facts  are  true 
or  untrue.  Reality  is  the  characteristic  feature  of  all 
facts,  but  truth  is  a  quality  that  can  reside  in  mind 
alone. 

Facts  are  always  single,  concrete,  and  individual. 
Every  fact  is  a  hie  and  num.  It  is  in  a  special  place, 
and  it  is  as  it  is,  at  a  certain  time.  It  is  definite  and 
of  a  particular  kind.  Yet  a  truth,  although  represen- 
ting certain  objects  or  their  relations,  is  never  a  con- 
crete object,  nor  is  it  a  hie  and  a  nunc.  It  possesses 
a  generality  applicable  to  all  instances  wherever  and 
whenever  the  objects  in  their  particular  relation  ap- 
pear represented  in  that  truth.  Truth  accordingly 
possesses  as  it  were  an  ubiquity ;  it  is  omnipresent 
and  eternal. 

Truth  in  one  sense  is  objective  ;  it  represents  ob- 
jects or  their  relations  conceived  in  their  objectivity, 
in  their  independence  «of  the  subject.  This  means 


42  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN'. 

that  the  representation  of  certain  objective  states  will 
under  like  conditions  agree  with  the  experiences  of  all 
subjects — i.  e.,  of  all  feeling  beings  having  the  same 
channels  of  information. 

Truth  in  another  sense  is  subjective.  Truth  exists 
in  thinking  subjects  only.  Truth  affirms  that  certain 
subjective  representations  of  the  objective  world  can 
be  relied  upon,  that  they  are  deduced  from  facts  and 
agree  with  facts.  Based  upon  past  experience,  they 
can  be  used  as  guides  for  future  experience.  If  there 
were  no  subjective  beings,  no  feeling  and  compre- 
hending minds,  there  would  be  no  truth.  Facts  in 
themselves,  whether  they  are  or  are  not  represented 
in  the  mind  of  a  feeling  and  thinking  subject,  are  real, 
yet  representations  alone,  supposing  they  agree  with 

facts,  are  true. 

* 
*  * 

Mind,  or  the  representation  of  facts  in  feeling  sub- 
stance, is  the  creation  of  a  new  and  a  spiritual  realm 
above  the  facts  of  material  existence.  By  spiritual 
we  understand  feelings  that  are  representative  ;  and 
we  say  that  it  is  a  new  creation  because  it  does  not 
exist  in  the  isolated  facts  of  the  world.  It  is  formed 
under  special  conditions.  It  rises  from  certain  com- 
binations of  facts ;  being  built  upon  those  facts  which 
produce  in  their  co-operation  the  subjective  state  of 
feeling.  The  activity  of  mind  if  methodically  dis- 
ciplined is  called  science.  Science  attempts  to  make 
the  mental  representations  correct :  it  is  the  search  for 
truth.  The  object  of  all  the  sciences  and  of  phi- 
losophy is  to  systematise  knowledge,  i.  e.,  all  the  in- 
numerable data  of  experience,  so  that  we  can  under- 
stand and  survey  the  facts  of  reality  in  their  harmo- 
nious interconnection.  The  most  important  problem 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  43 

of  philosophy  has  always  been  the  problem  of  the 
origin  of  mind  ;  for  we  are  anxious  to  comprehend  how 
it  is  possible  that  feeling  can  spring  up  in  a  universe 
of  not-feeling  objects,  and  that  thinking  beings  can 
originate  in  a  world  of  not-thinking  elements. 

Dualism  assumes  that  the  gulf  between  the  two 
empires,  the  thinking  and  feeling  on  one  side  and  the 
not-thinking  and  not-feeling  on  the  other  side,  is  in- 
surmountable ;  Monism  however  maintains  that  there 
is  no  gulf,  for  there  is  no  reason  for  such  an  assump- 
tion. Both  realms,  the  feeling  and  thinking  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  unfeeling  and  unthinking  on  the 
other  hand,  are  not  at  all  distinct  and  separate  prov- 
inces. The  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other  takes 
place  by  degrees,  and  there  is  no  boundary  line  be- 
tween them.  The  atoms  of  oxygen  which  we  inhale  at 
present  are  not  engaged  in  any  action  that  is  accom1 
panied  with  feeling,  but  some  of  them  will  be  very 
soon  active  in  the  generation  of  our  best  thought  ac- 
companied with  most  intense  consciousness.  After 
that  they  are  thrown  aside  in  the  organism  and  pass 
out  as  waste  products  in  the  shape  of  carbonic  acid. 

X.       TELEPATHY. 

The  spiritual  originates  from  and  disappears  into 
the  non-spiritual  not  otherwise  than  light  originates 
out  of,  and  dissolves  again  into,  darkness.  Light  is 
usually  considered  as  the  emblem  of  mind,  for  light 
also  discloses  to  our  eye  those  objects  which  are  so 
far  away  that  we  can  never  expect  to  touch  them  with 
our  hands.  So  mind,  the  representation  of  the  objec- 
tive world  in  feeling  substance,  unveils  the  riddles  of 
the  universe  and  shows  the  secret  connections  of  most 
distant  things  and  events. 


44  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

Spiritualists  discuss  with  great  enthusiasm  the 
problem  of  telepathy.  Telepathy  means  "far-feeling." 
Mental  activity  exhibits  in  all  its  elements  instances 
of  telepathy  in  the  literal  sense  of  the  word.  We  do 
not  feel  our  sense-organs;  but  in  and  through  our 
sense-organs  objects  outside  of  us  are  felt.  In  and 
through  our  eyes  most  distant  stars  are  seen.  If  tel- 
epathy has  no  other  but  its  natural  and  proper  mean- 
ing we  must  confess  that  the  whole  activity  of  the  mind 
rests  upon  telepathy. 

However,  we  cannot  recognise  telepathy  in  the 
sense  in  which  the  word  is  often  employed  by  spirit- 
ualists. With  many  it  denotes  a  process  of  such  far- 
feeling  as  is  not  caused  in  the  natural  way  and  as 
stands  in  contradiction  to  the  mechanical  intercon- 
nection of  causes  and  effects  in  the  universe.  It  is 
supposed  to  supersede  the  order  of  nature.  We  rec- 
ognise telepathy  fully  in  the  sense  that  feelings  rep- 
resent distant  events  and  that  mind  can  thus  pene- 
trate into  the  remotest  regions  of  time  and  space,  but 
not  in  any  other  sense  that  stands  in  contradiction 
with  the  universal  order  of  mechanical  causation. 

What  is  the  soul  but  a  telepathic  machine  !  It  is 
an  organised  totality  of  representations  in  feeling  sub- 
stance employed  for  the  purpose  of  reacting  appro- 
priately upon  the  stimuli  of  external  things.  Man  is  a 
part  of  the  cosmos,  he  consists  of  a  certain  group  of 
facts,  belonging  to  and  being  in  intimate  connection 
with  the  whole  universe.  Man's  mind  is  the  cosmos 
represented  in  this  special  group  of  facts.  A  correct 
representation  of  the  cosmos  includes  a  proper  adap- 
tation. Accordingly  the  human  soul  is  a  microcosm 
and  its  function  is  the  endeavoring  to  conform  to  the 
macrocosm. 


THE  ORIGIN  OF  MIND.  45 

XI.       MIND    AND    ETERNITY. 

Light  is  a  most  wonderful  phenomenon ;  and  yet 
we  know  that  the  objective  process  taking  place  in 
luminous  bodies  and  thence  transmitted  through  ether 
vibrations  to  our  eye  where  it  causes  the  sensation  of 
light,  is  a  mode  of  motion  that  can  be  produced  me- 
chanically by  changing  simple  or  mechanical  motion 
(i.  e.,  change  of  place)  through  friction  into  molecular 
motion.  As  light  originates  out  of  darkness,  being  a 
special  mode  of  motion,  so  feeling  originates  out  of 
the  not-feeling.  The  not-feeling  accordingly  contains 
the  conditions  of  feeling  in  a  similar  way  as  potential 
energy  contains  the  potentiality  of  kinetic  energy,  or 
as  molar  motion  contains  potentially  the  molecular 
motion  of  heat,  light,  and  electricity. 

Mind  sheds  light  upon  the  interconnection  of  all 
things  and  gives  meaning  to  the  world.  If  the  world 
consisted  of  purely  objective  facts  only,  it  would  re- 
main a  meaningless  play  of  forces.  Mind  and  the 
whole  realm  of  spiritual  existence  rises  from  most  in- 
significant beginnings ;  yet  is  it  so  grand  and  divine 
because  it  represents  the  world  in  its  wonderful  har- 
mony and  cosmic  order. 

The  function  of  spiritual  activity  appears  to  us  as 
transient ;  but  mind  is  not  as  transient  as  it  seems. 
The  continuous  light  of  a  flame  depends  in  every  in- 
stance upon  the  conditions  of  the  moment.  But  the 
continuity  of  mind  shows  a  preservation  of  mind- 
forms,  the  corresponding  spiritual  activity  of  which 
is  called  memory.  Memory  or  the  mind-form  of  former 
states  is  the  most  important  factor  in  the  determina- 
tion of  the  representative  value  of  present  states  of 
mind.  The  continuity  trlus  effected  makes  it  possible 


46  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

for  mind  to  represent  not  only  things  and  processes 
distant  in  space,  but  also  those  distant  in  time. 

The  continuation  of  form  in  feeling  substance,  not 
merely  in  the  life  of  single  individuals,  but  also  in  the 
life  of  the  race,  produces  the  growth,  the  develop- 
ment, and  evolution  of  mind.  Thus  facts  can  be  rep- 
resented in  their  connections,  and  the  necessity  of 
their  connection  can  be  understood.  To  use  Spinoza's 
phrase :  The  world  can  be  viewed  sub  specie  (zterni- 
tatis. 

The  fulfilment  of  mind  is  truth,  or  a  correct  rep- 
resentation of  facts,  not  as  they  are  now  and  here, 
but  as,  according  to  conditions  which  constitute  a 
given  state  of  things,  they  must  be  here  and  every- 
where. Mind  expands  in  the  measure  that  it  contains 
and  reflects  the  eternity  of  truth. 

The  activity  of  mind  is  in  one  respect  as  transient 
a  process  as  is  the  phenomenon  of  light.  Yet  in  other 
respects  mind  is  able  to  grasp  eternity  within  the  nar- 
row span  of  the  moment. 


VITALISM  AND  THE  CONSERVATION  OF 
ENERGY. 


A  GREAT  difference  appears  to  exist  between  an 
animal  that  moves  about  and  a  stone  that  remains  on 
the  spot  where  it  has  been  placed.  It  seems  as  if 
every  child  might  easily  explain  it.  And  yet  it  re- 
quired the  lapse  of  centuries  before  scientists  could 
tell  us  what  were  the  characteristic  features  of  animal 
life. 

In  former  centuries  people'  were  satisfied  to  state 
that  the  animal  was  alive,  while  a  stone  was  not  alive. 
And  we  may  perhaps,  even  in  the  present  day,  accept 
this  explanation.  But  we  refuse  to  be  paid  with  empty 
words.  We  now  ask  :  What  is  life  ? 

In  past  ages  it  was  assumed,  that  certain  things 
were  alive,  because  they  contained  vitality  or  a  vital 
principle.  This  simple  explanation  was  called  Vitalism. 
The  vital  principle,  it  was  held,  manifested  itself 
through  spontaneous  motion.  Things  that  contained 
no  vital  principle  were  not  alive ;  and  could  therefore 
be  moved  by  push  only,  by  a  vis  a  tergo,  as  they  said ; 
that  is,  through  a  mechanical  pressure  from  without. 

The  striking  feature  of  living  things,  of  both  plants 
as  well  as  animals,  is  their  organic  growth  of  which 
inanimate  objects  are  destitute.  Thus  it  became  cus- 
tomary to  distinguish  an  organic  and  an  inorganic 
kingdom ;  and  when  chemistry,  the  youngest  science, 


48  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

was  born,  a  new  flood  of  light  was  expected  to  be  shed 
upon  the  obscure  problem  of  vitality. 

Chemists,  indeed,  discovered,  that  all  living  sub- 
stance of  the  animal  and  the  vegetable  kingdoms  con- 
sisted chiefly  of  four  elementary  substances  ;  viz.,  of 
oxygen,  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen.  There  were 
very  slight  admixtures  only  of  a  few  other  ingredients, 
such  as  phosphorus,  sulphur,  iron,  chloride  of  sodium 
(salt),  etc.  Life,  it  appeared,  must  depend  upon  the 
interaction  of  oxygen,  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  nitrogen. 
Accordingly,  these  four  elements  were  called  organic 
substances.  They  were  supposed  to  be  the  substances 
of  life. 

But  the  hope  that  from  a  difference  of  matter  the 
problem  of  vitality  could  be  solved,  was  preposterous. 
In  many  respects  the  so-called  organic  substances  do 
not  differ  at  all  from  the  inorganic  substances,  and  there 
exist  many  combinations  of  the  organic  substances 
that  are  neither  of  an  animal  nor  of  a  vegetable  nature. 
We  cannot  therefore  look  upon  living  things  as  com- 
binations of  the  organic  substances ;  they  are  more 
than  combinations  of  organic  substances ;  they  are 
organic  substances  in  a  special  form  which  admit  of  a 
constant  interaction.  Substances  of  such  a  form  are 
called  organized  substances — well  to  be  distinguished 
from  organic  substances.  The  idea  of  a  life-substance 
had  to  be  abandoned,  and  scientists  now  tried  to  ex- 
plain the  problem  of  vitality  from  the  supposition 
of  a  vital  energy.  This  vital  energy  was  considered 
as  different  from  any  other  kind  of  energy,  and  many 
very  prominent  scientists  looked  upon  it  as  a  super- 
natural quality  which  lay  beyond  explanation. 

The  theory  that  a  vital  energy  animates  living 
bodies  was  maintained  until  half  a  century  ago  by  our 


VITALISM.  49 

most  prominent  physiologists.  But  it  received  its 
death-blow,  when  the  law  of  the  conservation  of  en- 
ergy was  recognized  to  the  full  extent  of  its  importance. 
We  now  know  that  all  forces  in  nature  are  motions  of 
some  kind  :  light  and  electricity  are  undulations  of 
ether ;  heat  is  a  molecular  vibration  ;  and  mechanical 
motion,  change  of  place  or  visible  movement,  can  be 
transformed  into  any  other  energy,  electricity,  light, 
or  heat.  Vice  versa,  motion  can  be  reproduced  from 
the  other  energies. 

Energy*  certainly  of  ten  seems  to  disappear  and  can 
apparently  be  created  again.  But  it  can  be  shown 
that  energy,  when  it  disappears,  reappears  in  another 
form,  and  that  the  energy  thus  created  did  exist  before, 
it  was  only  transformed.  Energy  may  be  latent ;  and 
latent  energy  can  be  set  free  again.  Because  latent 
energy  can  be  set  free  again,  it  is  called  potential  en- 
ergy (Z.  Z.  potentialis,  horn  possum,  Lean). 

Suppose  my  hand  exercises  a  force  represented  by 
A  B  upon  your  hand,  and  your  hand  resists  the  pres- 
sure by  exercising  an  equal  force  in  the  opposite  direc- 
tion B  A,  there  will  be  no  motion.  Let  the  stress 
between  the  two  hands  represent  the  force  of  A  B-\-B  A, 
This  stress  is  latent  energy;  it  .is  potential  and  can  be 
converted  into  an  energy  of  motion,  or,  as  it  is  termed, 
into  kinetic  energy. 

If  it  takes  a  pressure  of  A  B  to  set  the  spring  of 
a  toy  gun,  the  spring  will  exercise  the  same  amount  of 
force  {B  A]  upon  the  catch  that  keeps  it  compressed. 

*  Leibnitz  called  a  force  that  acts  as  motion  of  some  form  "  vis  •viva,'"  or 
"  living  force."  He  defined  vis  viva  as  the  product  of  the  mass  by  the  square 
of  the  velocity,  M  V  2.  But  now  the  term  kinetic  energy  (from  Kive~i>,  to  move), 
energy  of  motion,  has  become  customary,  and  we  understand  by  kinetic  energy 
half  the  mass  times  the  square  of  velocity  (%  M  V2"}.  See  Maxwell,  Theory 
of  Heat,  page  90. 


50  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

There  will  be  no  motion,  so  long  as  the  catch  is  strong 
enough  to  endure  the  pressure  B  A.  But  the  force 
A  B  is  not  annihilated ;  it  still  exists  as  potential 
energy  and  can  be  set  free  at  any  moment  by  the  re- 
moval of  the  catch,  which  is  done  by  pulling  the  trig- 
ger. The  pressure  B  A,  that  the  spring  exerts,  was 
created  through  the  expenditure  of  the  force  A  B  dur- 
ing the  act  of  setting  the  gun.  The  spring  is,  so  to 
say,  loaded,  it  is  freighted  with  a  certain  amount  of 
energy ;  and  if  the  trigger  is  pulled,  a  kind  of  explo- 
sion takes  place— i.  e.,  kinetic  energy  is  suddenly  set 
free,  which  is  available  for  doing  work.  In  a  toy  gun 
it  is  used  for  throwing  pebbles  or  peas. 

A  house  of  cards  in  the  same  way  represents  poten- 
tial energy.  One  card  keeps  the  other  standing  by 
pressure  and  counterpressure.  If  through  the  inter- 
ference of  some  change  the  pressure  of  one  card  ceases 
to  be  quite  equal  to  that  of  the  other,  the  house  breaks 
down,  thus  changing  stress  into  motion — or,  in  other 
terms,  thus  changing  potential  energy  into  kinetic 
energy. 

The  building  up  and  breaking  down  of  a  house  of 
cards  is  a  process  visible  in  all  its  details.  But  there 
are  chemical  compositions  that  are  similar  to  such 
houses  of  cards,  yet  do  not  show  the  details  of  the 
building  up  and  breaking  down.  It  takes  a  certain 
amount  of  energy  to  build  them,  and  they  thus  contain 
potential  energy.  Whenever  a  very  small  change,  a 
slight  concussion,  an  increase  of  temperature,  or  a 
spark,  can  cause  their  breakdown,  they  are  called 
"unstable."  Gunpowder  and  all  other  explosives  are 
of  this  character. 

Although  kinetic  energy  may  disappear  when  it  is 
changed  into  potential  energy,  yet  energy  itself  can- 


VITALISM.  51 

not  be  destroyed.  Neither  can  it  be  produced.  Like 
matter,  energy  is  indestructible. 

The  question  now  arises  :  Is  vital  force  different 
from  both  these  energies  ?  And  the  unequivocal  an- 
swer is,  No  !  The  energy  which  living  beings  expend 
in  their  activity,  in  their  motions,  their  passions,  and 
in  their  thought,  is  the  same  energy  that  we  meet  with 
everywhere,  and  which  is  produced  in  animal  bodies 
in  a' more  complicated  way,  yet  in  a  similar  manner 
as  work  is  done  by  machines.*  As  machines  are  fed 
by  coal  and  heated  by  the  combustion  of  coal,  so  the 
animal  receives  food,  which  through  the  organs  of 
digestion  is  assimilated  and  transformed  into  highly 
complicated,  unstable  combinations.  Like  gunpowder, 
or  like  a  drawn  spring,  these  unstable  combinations 
contain  potential  energy.  An  unstable  combination 
of  high  complexity,  when  breaking  down  into  a  more 
stable  combination  of  less  complexity,  sets  free  that 
quantity  of  kinetic  energy  that  was  necessary  to 
build  it  up  and  to  keep  it  in  a  state  of  tension.  In  the 
animal  body,  as  in  the  fire-box  of  a  steam-engine,  a 
process  of  combustion  takes  place  :  the  exceedingly 
unstable  oxygen  of  the  air  combines  with  carbon  and 
nitrogen  compounds,  which  are  also  unstable  and  to 
which  oxygen  bears  a  great  affinity,  i.  e.,  it  easily  com- 
bines with  them  into  more  stable  compositions.  All  the 
details  of  this  process  are  not  yet  fully  known  and  cal- 
culated ;  but  the  theory  itself  can  no  longer  be  doubted. 

Combustion  means  oxidation  ;  and  oxidation,  con- 
verting substances  into  more  stable  combinations,  sets 
energy  free,  which  appears  either  as  heat  or  as  work 
performed.  The  process  of  oxidation  in  the  fire-box 
of  a  steam-engine  is  a  luminous  process,  while  in  the 

*  See  Gavarret,  De  la  chaleur produite  par  les  $tres  vivants. 


52  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

body  it  is  not  strong  enough  for  developing  visible 
flames.  Oxygen,  in  the  process  of  combustion,  unites 
with  carbon  into  carbonic  acid  and  leaves  behind 
water  and  other  incombustible  parts. 

Oxygen  is  conveyed  into  the  body  by  respiration  ; 
in  the  lungs  the  blood  is  oxidized,  which  carries  the 
oxygen  to  the  different  organs.  Through  the  oxida- 
tion of  the  tissues  in  the  nerves,  in  the  muscles,  and  in 
other  living  substances,  potential  energy  is  set  free 
which  partly  appears  as  heat,  partly  as  work  per- 
formed. The  heat  is  called  animal  heat,  the  work 
performed  is  the  movements  of  the  body.  The  pro- 
ducts of  the  oxidations  are  carbonic  acid,  water,  and 
certain  nitrogen  compounds,  which  are  given  off  in 
the  secretion  of  urine,  in  the  air  expelled  from  the 
lungs  in  breathing,  and  through  perspiration. 

Professor  Bunge  in  Basel  has  again  recently  adopted 
the  expression  vital  energy.  Bunge  justly  maintains, 
that  the  forces  that  appear  in  a  living  animal  organ- 
ism are  entirely  different  from  all  other  forces  in  nature. 
In  this  manner  he  re-admitted  the  obsolete  term 
vitalism.  In  Professor  Bunge's  writings,  however, 
the  term  vitalism  is  in  so  far  modified  and  modernized, 
that  the  Professor  does  not  at  all  contest  that  this  vital 
energy  is  just  as  much  energy  as  any  mechanical 
movement,  heat  or  electricity,  and  that  it  originates 
by  way  of  transformation  from  other  forms  of  energy. 
Vital  energy  is  nevertheless  entirely  different  from 
other  forces,  even  as  electricity  differs  from  heat  or 
from  visible  motion,  from  friction,  or  from  light. 

In  the  old  electric  machine  friction  is  transformed 
into  electricity,  and  we  know  that  electricity  as  well  as 
friction  is  a  certain  mode  of  motion  :  still  electricity  is 
not  friction.  Thus,  vital  energy  is  likewise  quite  a 


VITALISM.  53 

special  form  of  energy,  which  form  is  different  from  all 
the  other  forms  of  energy  from  which  it  can  be  pro- 
duced. 

Vitality  is  an  energy  just  as  well  as  all  other 
energies,  but  its  form  is  peculiar ;  it  is  neither  elec- 
tricity, nor  light,  nor  heat  alone,  nor  any  other  energy 
we  know  of,  although  it  may  be  more  or  less  similar 
to  the  one  and  to  the  other.  Vitality  originates  from 
the  same  great  reservoir  of  energy  as  all  the  other 
forms  of  energy,  and  it  stands  with  them  in  a  constant 
interaction.  Yet  the  only  engine  by  which,  to  our 
knowledge,  vital  energy  can  be  created,  is  the  animal 
organism.  According  to  the  present  state  of  knowl- 
edge, we  can,  to  say  the  least,  hardly  expect  to  be  able 
to  produce  vital  energy  in  any  other  manner.  -  This 
truth  is  most  concisely  formulated  in  the  statement 
that  life  comes  from  life  only. 


ORGANIZED  AND  NON-ORGANIZED  LIFE. 


IF  by  life  is  to  be  understood  spontaneous  motion, 
we  must  acknowledge  that  the  whole  universe  is  ani- 
mated, and  that  the  animal  world  owes  its  life,  its 
growth,  and  its  whole  existence  to  the  universal  life 
of  nature.  For  a  long  while,  under  the  influence  of 
materialistic  philosophy,  it  was  believed,  that  we 
should  be  able  to  explain  the  psychological  and  phys- 
iological action  of  the  animal  world  from  the  chemical 
and  purely  mechanical  processes  of  nature.  The 
world  was  considered  as  a  dead  machine  moved  by 
push  from  the  outside.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  in- 
verse is  true  ;  science  has  been  compelled  to  explain 
even  the  jnechanical  processes  through  the  facts  of 
physiology  and  psychology.  For  there  is  life  and  spon- 
taneity everywhere  in  nature ;  in  the  falling  stone  no 
less  than  in  the  blowing  of  buds  and  in  the  decisions 
of  the  human  will. 

The  simplest  mechanical  movements  appeared  so 
self-evident,  that  scientists  believed  they  might  pro- 
perly be  regarded  as  the  most  general  facts,  to  which 
for  the  sake  of  explanation  all  other  natural  pheno- 
mena would  have  to  be  reduced.  Mechanics,  after 
all,  only  explains  the  form  of  visible  motion  ;  it  only 
shows  how  one  form  of  motion  necessarily  proceeds 
from  another  or  how  it  is  transformed  from  potential 
energy.  The  fact  of  the  motion  itself  remained  un- 


ORGANIZED  LIFE.  55 

explained.  How  a  stone  falls  can  be  correctly  calcu- 
lated ;  the  cause  that  occasions  its  fall  in  each  single 
instance  can  be  stated,  but  the  reason  why  it  falls, 
why  it  is  attracted  toward  the  earth,  remained  an 
open  question.  Repeated  attempts  were  made  to 
explain  gravitation  from  the  pressure  of  a  surrounding 
ether,  simply  because  scientists  had  been  accustomed 
to  regard  organic  nature  as  dead.  In  this,  however, 
they  entirely  overlooked  the  fact,  that  even  if  in  such 
case  the  descent  of  a  stone  could  be  sufficiently  ex- 
plained through  mechanical  pressure  (we  need  not 
mention  here  the  many  contradictions  arising  from  this 
hypothesis),  the  pressure  itself,  which  the  ether  exerts, 
would  remain  unexplained.  By  virtue  of  this  .explana- 
tion the  presence  of  ether  must  cause  all  movement, 
and  ether  would  be  the  source  of  all  life,  the  agency 
that  produces  the  spontaneity  of  nature.  But,  if 
ether  itself  is  not  alive,  through  what  push  or  pressure 
could  it  have  attained  its  energy  ?  In  this  manner  the 
problem  is  only  delayed, — and  can  be  delayed  ad  infi- 
nitum  without  the  approach  of  anything  that  looks 
like  an  explanation.  We  therefore  regard  these  ether- 
theories  as  a  failure,  and  rather  adopt  the  simpler 
conception,  according  to  which  nature  as  a  whole  is  en- 
dowed with  spontaneity,  i.  e. ,  self-motion.  A  stone  is  not 
pushed  toward  the  earth  by  a  pressure,  by  a  vis  a  tergo, 
but  it  spontaneously  moves.  The  stone  (like  all  bodies) 
has  a  quality,  called  gravity,  which  is  manifested  in 
gravitation.  One  body  attracts  another  body  inversely 
as  the  square  of  their  distance.  Gravity  is  not  out- 
side of  the  stone  pulling  or  pushing  it  ;  it  is  in  the 
stone  itself,  it  is  an  inseparable  part  of  it,  a  quality 
being  identical  with  its  mass.  Accordingly,  the  fall- 
ing stone  is  not  acted  uf>on,  it  is  self-acting. 


56  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

This  same  principle  applies  to  all  more  complica- 
ted processes,  and  even  to  human  action  itself.  A 
chemical  combination  is  not  affected  through  the 
pressure  of  some  unknown  or  unknowable  agent  out- 
side the  substances  that  pushes  them  together;  but 
through  their  own  inherent  energy,  through  qualities 
that  are  inseparably  connected  with  their  very  exist- 
ence— qualities  that  in  their  totality  constitute  their 
whole  being. 

The  spontaneity  of  living  creatures,  which  in  the 
form  of  organized  life  is  called  vitality,  is  accord- 
ingly derived  from  other  forms  of  energy,  just  as  the 
materials  that  are  constantly  building  up  the  body 
are  substances  that  are  found  everywhere  about  us  in 
nature.  We  drink  the  water  that  falls  from  the  clouds 
or  is  drawn  from  a  spring.  The  carbonic  acid  of  the 
air  is  transformed  in  plants  into  hydrates  of  carbon,  and 
we  consume  them  in  our  daily  bread.  We  breathe 
the  oxygen  of  the  air,  and  through  all  the  complex 
and  peculiar  processes  which  these  substances  undergo 
within  our  body  through  constant  combinations  and 
decompositions,  we  derive  in  every  second  of  our  life 
fresh  strength  from  the  great  store-house  of  living 
nature  to  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being. 

Spontaneous  motion  is  the  universal  feature  of  all 
natural  processes.  But  if  spontaneity  is  not  the  charac- 
teristic feature  of  animal  life,  if  the  self-motion  of  liv- 
ing men  and  animals  is  only  a  special  instance  of  the 
universal  spontaneity  of  nature,  if  they  are  but  a  pecu- 
liar form,  a  particular,  grand,  and  wonderful  revela- 
tion of  the  same — what  then  is  to  be  regarded  as  the 
essential  difference  between  both  these  kingdoms?  A 
difference  which,  despite  the  intimate  connection  of 
both,  is  so  very  striking  and  manifest 


ORGANIZED  LIFE.  57 

That  which  particularly  distinguishes  so  called  liv- 
ing beings  in  their  contrast  to  the  so-called  not-living 
beings  of  inorganic  nature  is  their  organization.  We, 
therefore,  must  carefully  distinguish  between  organic 
substances  and  organized  substance. 

Organized  substance,  or  rather  organizing  sub- 
stance, is  that  which  displays  all  the  special  functions, 
which  exhibits  the  properties  of  life  in  the  narrower  and 
in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word.  Organized  sub- 
stance not  only  possesses  that  spontaneity  of  movement 
which  is  common  to  all  substances,  and  which  it  shows 
in  a  striking  manner  especially  by  the  transformation 
of  potential  into  kinetic  energy;  it  also  possesses  the 
faculty  of  continuing  without  interruption  the  process 
of  self-organization.  It  takes  from  its  environment 
fresh  substances,  which  it  assimilates  into  the  higher 
(that  is,  unstable)  combinations  of  its  own  ;  where- 
upon in  animal  beings  these  higher  and  unstable  com- 
positions again  are  decomposed  through  a  process 
of  oxidation. 

The  process  of  organization,  accordingly,  consists 
in  what  we  usually  understand  by  assimilation  of  food, 
resulting  in  nutrition  and  growth,  accompanied  by  dis- 
assimilation,  i.  e.,  a  constant  expulsion  of  the  used  ele- 
ments. In  animals,  moreover,  the  setting  free  of 
energy  in  the  form  of  motion  is  a  further  characteristic 
trait  of  the  most  important  peculiarities  of  the  higher 
forms  of  organizing  substance. 

We  learn  from  this  that  every  trifling  act  of  vitality, 
be  it  ever  so  insignificant  or  little,  the  slightest  move- 
ment, even  the  blinking  of  an  eye,  and  also  every 
thought  and  every  emotion  of  our  soul,  is  a  decay  of 
built-up  living  substance.  How  closely,  then,  are 
death  and  life  akin  !  Nay,  they  are  in  this  sense  iden- 


58  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

tical,  for  each  act  of  life  is  an  act  of  death  and  the  old 
hymn  is  true, 

In  the  midst  of  life  by  death  we  are  surrounded. 
Media  vita  nos  in  morte  suinus. 

And  this  idea  contains  even  a  deeper  truth  than 
was  dreamed  of  by  the  poet  of  those  lines,  or  by  the 
millions  of  human  souls  of  past  ages,  who  in  their 
anxieties  and  in  danger  of  death  repeated  the  words  of 
that  grand  hymn. 

Decay  is  the  condition  of  activity.  Thus  the  char- 
acteristic feature  of  death  is  the  very  nature  of  life. 
Death  constantly  hovers  about  us,  and  out  of  his  hand 
We  receive — through  the  decay  of  the  forms  which 
hoard  potential  energy,  that  vitality  which  warms  our 
hearts  and  glows  through  all  our  being,  which  we  ex- 
pend for  our  own  necessities  as  well  as  for  the  weal  of 
future  humanity. 

The  truth,  that  every  vital  act  is  at  the  same  time 
an  act  of  death,  would  find  a  wrong  application  if  its 
influence  would  drive  us  to  melancholy,  if  it  would 
make  our  lives  gloomy  and  our  souls  despondent. 
On  the  contrary,  it  must  make  us  brave  and  coura- 
geous, for  indeed  it  does  not  show  life  in  a  terrible  and 
death-like  shape,  but  death  himself  with  all  his  terrors 
appears  in  a  milder  and  nobler  aspect.  Death,  the 
giver  of  life,  will  bestow  the  richer  gifts,  the  better  we 
learn  to  appreciate  their  value.  To  both  the  spend- 
thrift who  wastes,  as  well  as  to  the  miser  who  leaves 
his  powers  of  life  unused,  the  fountain  of  life  will  cease 
to  flow.  But  through  wise  use  we  may  do  both,  pre- 
serve and  even  increase  its  bounties. 

Who  wishes  to  preserve  his  life  loses  the  same  ; 
but  he  who  loses  his  life  in  the  service  of  a  higher  and 
of  a  more  lasting  cause  than  is  that  of  self-hood,  will 


ORGANIZED  LIFE.  59 

• 

truly  preserve  his  life.  Activity  of  work  not  only  keeps 
the  fountain  of  life  flowing,  but  the  work  performed 
will  live  even  in  the  generations  to  come,  and  the 
greater,  the  purer,  and  the  nobler,  the  more  moral  our 
work  is  the  more  lasting  will  it  be,  the  more  will  it 
partake  of  the  grandeur  of  eternity. 


MEMORY  AND  ORGANIZED  SUBSTANCE. 


THROUGH  the  monistic  conception  the  yawning 
chasm  that  seems  to  separate  living  nature  from  dead 
nature,  is  bridged  over.  Dead  nature  only  appears 
to  be  dead  in  comparison  with  the  higher  manifesta- 
tions of  organized  life.  Nevertheless,  the  latter  springs 
from,  and  is  constantly  drawing  upon  the  resources  of, 
the  former.  It  is  true,  it  has  not  hitherto  been  possi- 
ble to  create  organized  substance  from  non-organized 
substance.  So  far  as  we  can  judge  this  cannot  be 
done  otherwise  than  by  the  natural  process,  with  the  help 
of  previously  extant  organisms.  All  attempts  to  the  end 
of  making  the  organic  elements  (O,  C,  H,  N)  organize, 
have  utterly  failed.  This,  however,  does  not  disprove, 
that  under  certain  definite  circumstances  (which,  per- 
haps, are  no  longer  realizable  on  this  planet  of  ours) 
the  organic  elements  do  actually  organize  with  the 
same  necessity  as  under  certain  given  circumstances 
electric  tensions  spontaneously  arise,  which  afterwards 
discharge  in  thunder-storms. 

The  spontaneous  rise  of  organized  life  from  the 
"all-life"  of  nature  cannot  be  contested, unless  indeed 
we  wish  to  lose  ourselves  in  interminable  contradic- 
tions or  in  incomprehensible  wonder-theories  concern- 
ing supernatural  powers. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  we  must  grant  even  to  in- 
organic nature  a  certain  kind  of  life,  manifested  in 
spontaneous  self -motion,  the  question  has  been  mooted, 


MEMORY.  6 1 

whether  a  piece  of  coal  that  burns  away,  and  a  stone 
that  falls  to  the  earth,  are  not  endowed  with  a  kind  of 
feeling,  that  is,  whether  in  such  substances  actually 
there  does  not  take  place  something  that,  on  a  minia- 
ture scale,  might  correspond  to  that  which  in  our- 
selves we  perceive  as  feeling. 

The  question  is  perfectly  legitimate,  and,  perhaps, 
ought  to  be  answered  in  the  affirmative.  The  non- 
organized  substances  must,  in  fact,  possess  all  the 
conditions  of  organized  life,  and  consequently  those 
of  feeling  also.  Still,  in  admitting  this,  we  ought  to 
bear  in  mind  that  the  mere  conditions  of  feeling  are 
not  as  yet  feeling  itself,  even  as  mere  friction  does  not 
as  yet  constitute  electricity. 

The  processes  of  inorganic  nature,  as  compared  with 
those  of  organized  life,  are  isolated  and  instantaneous 
proceedings.  They  are  not  organically  linked  to  pre- 
vious processes  by  a  chain  of  memories.  An  atom 
of  oxygen  goes  through  a  thousand  different  conditions 
which  leave,  so  far  as  we  are  able  to  judge,  no  mark, 
no  impression  upon  it.  With  equal  indifference  it 
will  now  sustain  life  and  now  cause  iron  to  rust.  That 
it  did  pass  through  the  former  process  has  no  influence 
upon  its  action  in  the  latter,  and  although  all  processes 
of  nature,  even  those  of  inorganic  nature,  are  intercon- 
nected, the  connection  is  meaningless  in  such  cases. 
Every  process  of  inorganic  nature  is  an  isolated  act, 
limited  to  the  instant  at  which  it  takes  place.  This 
is  one  and  perhaps  the  most  important  reason  why 
inorganic  processes  can  not  exhibit  feeling — certainly 
not  that  which  in  the  life  of  animal  existences  we  are 
wont  to  designate  as  feeling. 

Coal  and  stones  and  atoms  of  oxygen  in  the  air  are 
not  sentient  beings  in  the*same  sense  as  animals,  and 


62  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

not  even  in  the  sense  in  which  mimosas  are  sentient, 
simply  because  they  are  not  organized,  and  according 
to  all  appearances  are  destitute  of  memory.  Only 
memory  can  create  feeling — that  which  we  commonly 
understand  by  feeling,  which  is  a  discriminative  faculty. 
The  retentive  power  of  memory  preserves  former  im- 
pressions, and  thus  renders  a  comparison  of  the  present 
state  of  things  with  past  experiences  possible. 

Professor  Hering  most  ably  demonstrates  in  his 
famous  monograph  on  Memory,  that  memory  is  a  uni- 
versal property  of  organized  substance.  Memory,  in- 
deed, is  the  result  of  organization  and  all  the  supe- 
riority of  organized  substance  over  inorganic  matter, 
is  first  of  all  due  to  its  memory. 

Every  organized  substance  that  we  know,  is  but 
the  summation  of  its  history  from  the  beginning.  Every 
impression,  and  every  mode  in  which  the  organism 
ever  reacted  against  impressions,  are  faithfully  pre- 
served, in  the  most  delicate  and  recondite  features  of 
the  living  substance.  By  the  aid  of  its  memories  an 
organism  creates  a  unity  with  its  own  past  as  well  as 
future,  which  enables  it  to  turn  the  fruits  of  former 
experiences  to  advantage  for  experiences  to  come,  and 
in  this  manner  renders  possible  a  progression  to  ever 
higher  stages  of  development,  to  more  varied  forms, 
and  to  more  powerful  and  nobler  types  of  being. 

The  rise  of  organized  substance  from  non-organized 
elements  constitutes  the  triumph  of  nature  over  the 
blindness  of  a  purely  material  reality.  The  elements 
previously  isolated  combine  and  their  very  union  builds 
up  in  their  forms  a  higher  kind  of  life.  Substance,  in 
becoming  organized,  peculiarly  connects  the  existence 
of  materiality  from  molecule  to  molecule.  It  produces 
above  or  among  the  molecules  a  new  kind  of  existence, 


MEMORY.  63 

manifested  in  ceaselessly  interacting  structures  which, 
not  unlike  living  fountains,  preserve  their  forms  in  the 
constant  flux  of  matter.  Material  existence  has  the 
advantage  of  being  indestructible  and  eternal,  but  the 
life  of  forms  has  the  greater  advantage  of  being  plas- 
tic, and  while  preserving  the  treasures  of  its  former 
days,  it  can,  in  every  moment  of  its  activity,  gain  new 
ones.  This  higher  life  of  nature,  deriving  its  super- 
iority and  grandeur  not  from  its  material  resources, 
but  from  its  form,  may  very  well  be  characterized  as 
spiritual. 

It  is  said  that  the  human  body  every  seven  years 
completely  renews  all  its  constitutive  elements.  But 
the  connection  with  the  work  done  by  the  lost  and  dis- 
integrated parts  is  therefore  not  broken,  after  their 
having  performed  their  respective  functions.  We  still 
very  well  remember  what  we  did  and  thought  seven 
or  fourteen  years  ago,  nay  even  twenty-one,  twenty- 
eight  years,  and  more.  The  reason  of  this  wonderful 
fact  is,  that  the  forms  of  organized  substance  as 
created  under  the  influences  of  events  and  actions 
amidst  all  the  elementary  changes  of  growth,  still  re- 
main faithfully  preserved. 

The  preservation  of  form  in  living  substance  is 
the  principle  that  explains  memory.  Indeed,  both  are 
equivalent  terms.  By  memory  we  understand  noth- 
ing more  or  less  than  the  psychical  aspect  of  the  pre- 
servation of  form  in  living  substance.  The  skin  of  my 
hand,  which  once,  some  twenty  years  ago,  was  slightly 
wounded,  has  been  renovated  again  and  again,  through 
the  expulsion  of  all  disintegrated  parts,  but  the  form 
of  the  wound  has  nevertheless  been  preserved  in  the 
white  line  of  a  scar.  The  brain  similarly  preserves 
certain  impressions,  the  forms  of  which  remain,  though 


64  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  nervous  substance  may  change.  And  if  these  forms 
happen  to  be  stimulated  or  irritated,  we  experience 
the  same  feelings  over  again,  as  when  we  received  the 
impression — only  much  weaker  in  its  resuscitation  than 
in  the  moment  when  they  were  first  experienced.  And 
yet  not  a  single  particle  is  preserved  of  the  matter 
that,  at  the  time  of  the  impression,  performed  the 
function  of  feeling. 

The  higher  life  of  nature  begins  with  memory 
through  the  preservation  of  living  forms,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  ever-ascending  higher  development  of 
the  organizing  substances,  it  will  reach  the  conscious- 
ness of  animal  life  and  ultimately  rise  to  the  stage  of 
human  intelligence. 

This  same  higher  nature,  that  created  spiritual 
existence,  still  continues  active,  and  in  the  depths 
of  human  hearts  incessantly  creates  new  ideals,  which 
in  organic  growth  sprout  forth  from  past  experiences. 
The  memories  of  both  successes  and  failures  live 
in  our  brain,  and  shape  themselves  into  new  images  of 
better  conditions,  under  which  disappointments  can 
be  avoided.  Thus  they  lead  humanity  onward  on  the 
highway  of  an  endless  and  boundless  progress. 

The  spiritual  life  of  higher  existence,  which  to 
organized  substance  imparts  its  superiority  and  proper 
character,  we  commonly  call  soul.  Accordingly,  we 
define  soul  as  the  form  of  an  organism.  This  definition 
may  seem  exceedingly  simple,  but  like  all  simple  truths 
it  possesses  a  far-reaching  significance. 

The  development  of  our  soul  is  the  highest  task  of 
humanity;  to  attend  to  this  task  constitutes  our  most 
sacred  religious  duty.  But  the  indispensable  condition 
for  this  is  self-knowledge. 

The  pursuit  of  self  knowledge  being  the  basis  of  re- 


MEMORY.  65 

ligion,  the  words  /Vc5#z  Gsavrov.,  "know  thyself," 
were  inscribed  above  the  portals  of  the  most  venerable 
sanctuary  of  ancient  Greece.  Self-knowledge  is  de- 
manded from  those  who  wish  to  cross  the  threshold  of 
the  sanctuary  of  Apollo,  of  the  divinity  of  light,  and 
spirit. 

To  investigate  the  nature  of  the  soul,  to  study  the  laws 
in  accordance  with  which  the  soul  is  developed,  and  pre- 
served in  a  condition  of  health,  is  of  greatest  import- 
ance to  every  human  creature  ;  for  even  in  our  own  day, 
to  the  most  advanced  and  radical  adept  of  free  thought, 
*£s  to  all,  the  grand  words  of  the  Gospel  apply  :  "What 
shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  shall  gain  the  whole  world 
and  lose  his  own  soul  ?"  (MARK  vin.  36.) 


SOUL-LIFE  OF  ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS. 


THE  soul  of  man  is  the  result  of  the  total  develop- 
ment of  organized  substance  from  its  first  beginning 
and  through  all  its  phases  of  transformation.  Man  is 
the  sum  of  all  the  memories  of  his  ancestors.  In  the 
man  of  to-day  all  the  memories  of  the  past  continue 
to  live,  as  naturally  as  the  child  continues  to  live  in 
the  youth  and  the  youth  in  the  developed  man. 

Death  vanishes,  when  we  thus  conceive  mankind 
as  one  grand  totality,  as  a  huge  wave  sweeping  on- 
ward across  the  ocean  of  life.  The  wave  in  its  progress 
incessantly  lifts  other  particles  of  water  and  leaves 
the  old  ones  behind  ;  yet  it  remains  the  same,  and  ever 
must  remain  the  same  in  its  onward  career.  The  wave 
is  not  the  water,  although  it  consists  of  water ;  it  is  a 
special  form  of  motion  in  water.  Humanity  is  not  the 
matter  of  which  men's  bones  and  muscles  consist. 
Humanity  is  a  certain  form  of  life — a  form  of  motion 
that  sweeps  over  the  ocean  of  matter.  The  material  par- 
ticles of  which  humanity  now  consists,  are  left  behind, 
they  sink  back  into  the  ocean,  but  humanity  continues 
to  progress  ;  it  continues  to  live,  and  remains  the  same 
through  all  the  changes  which  the  material  parts  of 
living  substance  have  to  undergo.  By  humanity  we 
do  not  understand  the  clay  of  which  man  is  made, 
nor  even  the  life  which  moves  the  clay,  but  the  form 


ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS.  67 

of  life  in   the  clay — his  soul ;   and  the  soul  lives  even 
though  the  body  may  die. 

From  this  point  of  view  the  life  of  the  individual 
man  is  enlarged  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  the 
ego.  He  feels  himself  a  part  of  a  great  whole,  for 
which,  even  in  the  most  modest  sphere,  he  can  work 
and  exert  himself.  And  in  so  far  as  he  represents  the 
soul  of  humanity,  he  breathes  the  atmosphere  of  im- 
mortality. The  tidal  wave  of  life,  that  now  bears  him 
along,  even  after  his  earthly  part  has  returned  to  the 
dust  whence  it  originated,  will  sweep  resistlessly  on- 
ward toward  grand  and  glorious  goals,  that  now  in  our 
ideal  aspirations  we  dimly  can  presage. 

Let  us  throw  a  glance  upon  the  beginning  of  or- 
ganized life  where  it  separates  into  two  distinctively 
different  kingdoms,  viz.,  into  plants  and  animals. 

Living  substance,  animal  as  well  as  vegetable,  which 
has  not  as  yet  assumed  a  perceptibly  specialized  form, 
is  called  protoplasm.  Mi- 
nute lumps  of  animal  pro- 
toplasm can  frequently  be 
found  in  stagnant  water. 
They  are  called  change-an  - 
imals,  or  amo3bas.  Amce- 
bas  do  not  yet  possess  a 
distinct  mouth  ;  they  take 
nourishment  by  absorbing 
and  assimilating  all  kinds 
of  animal  and  vegetable  particles,  which  they  draw  into 
their  interior  through  any  point  of  their  surface.  They 
have  no  distinct  members;  they  move  by  sending  out 
protuberances  and  dragging  the  rest  of  their  mass  be- 
hind. They  multiply  by  division.  Their  constant 
changes  of  form  gave  them  their  name. 


AN    AMCEBA. 


68  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

Amoebas  cannot  as  yet  be  characterized  as  organ- 
isms. The  simplest  organism  into  which  living  sub- 
stance develops,  is  the 
cell. 

Simple  as  the  cell  real- 
ly is  in   comparison  with  ^ 
any  higher  organism,  it  still  , 

appears    extremely    com-  a. ! 

plex,  when  submitted  to  a   £. 
careful  investigation.   Un- 
der ordinary  conditions  it 
consists  : 

,  The  granulated  appearance,  accord- 

1.  Ol  a  membrane  oring  to  Fieming)  is  caused  by  coaguia- 

Skin,  a,    formed   Under  the  tion  due  to   chemical  reaction.     In  the 
.  .  .  living  cells  which  he  examined,  minute 

influence    Ot     its     environ-  particles  of  fat  vibrated  in  the  intern- 
ment. bral  matter- 

2.  Of  the  kernel  or  nucleus,  c,  and 

3.  The  plasma  or  cell-substance,  b. 

According  to  Prof.  Walther  Flemming,*  the  cell- 
substance,  as  well  as  the  nucleus,  is  made  up  of  spe- 
cial fibral  structures  and  an  interfibral  matter,  which 
in  living  cells,  we  have  good  reason  to  infer,  is  of  the 
nature  of  a  fluid. 

The  kernel  contains  a  smaller  kernel,  d,  called  the 
nucleolus. 

In  the  activity  of  the  cell  there  subsists  a  division 
of  labor  :  the  skin  acts  as  the  agency  of  communication 
with  the  outside  world,  the  cell-substance  assimilates 
and  disassimilates  food,  the  kernel  serves  for  propaga- 
tion. When  the  kernel  has  split,  the  cell  begins  to 
branch  off  into  several  filial  cells. 

The  principle  of  division  of  labor  is  carried  farther 

*  Zells^bstanz,  Kern,  und Zelltheihmg.  By  Walther  Flemming,  Professor 
of  Anatomy  at  Kiel.  Leipzig,  1882.  F.  C.  W.  Vogel. 


ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS. 


69 


still,  when,  as  in  the  Hydra  or  Gastrula,  several  cells 
form  one  greater  whole.  Each  cell  retains  its  individ- 
uality, but  it  is  differentiated  through  its  service  upon 
the  organism,  to  which  it  belongs. 


SAGITTA.  URASTER.  NAUPLIUS.  LINNAEUS. 

FOUR   DIAGRAMS   OF   DIFFERENT   HYDRAS,    ACCORDING   TO   H^CKEL  : 

/",  Inner  skin,  or  entoderm.  d,  Stomach. 

e,  Outer  (exterior)  skin  or  entoderm,  s,  Reservoir  of  assimilated  food. 

o,  Orifice  or  mouth. 

The   law  of   specialization  which  makes  the  parts 
of  an  organism  work   with  and  for  each  other,  is  the 


70  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

fundamental  condition  of  all  higher  evolution  of  life. 
Organized  life,  therefore,  with  all  the  varied  spiritual 
treasures  that  it  has  created,  ultimately  depends  upon 
a  moral  condition  ;  it  depends  upon  the  condition  that 
the  individual  earnestly  devotes  all  its  life  and  efforts 
to  the  service  of  the  greater  whole  to  which  it  belongs. 
Or  shall  we  not  rather  state  the  fact  in  its  inverted 
and  more  natural  order  ?  Because  the  devotion  of 
the  work  of  every  part  to  the  life  of  the  whole  is  the 
condition  of  all  evolution  and  of  all  progress,  there- 
fore it  is  ethical.  Ethics  is  no  creation  of  our  mind. 
Being  the  code  of  rules  for  our  conduct,  it  must  stand 
on  facts.  The  facts  that  have  produced  man,  are  the 
data  from  which  the  rules  of  our  conduct  must  be  de- 
rived. If  ethics  were  a  human  invention,  it  would  be 
a  mere  fancy  of  our  imagination.  It  might  then  be 
called  poetry,  or  romance,  or  subjective  opinion,  but 
it  would  never  be  a  science.  Ethics,  as  we  conceive  it, 
can  be  derived  from  and  applied  to  facts.  It  is  a 
science  and  among  the  sciences  it  is  the  science  of 
sciences.  It  is  applied  philosophy. 

* 
*  * 

The  Hydra,  or  fresh  water  polyp,  being  the  next 
step  in  the  progressive  development  beyond  a  cell,  has 
the  shape  of  a  double-skinned  bag.  (See  Figs,  on  p.  69.) 

The    outer    skin,    or   ecto- 
derm, e,  performs  the  functions 
of  sensation  and  motion;  if  ir- 
ritated, its  cells  contract.     The 
inner  skin,  or  entoderm,  /,  per- 
forms the  function  of  food-assim- 
ilation.      The    Cells  Of  the   ectO-         NEURO-MUSCULAR  CELLS. 
derm    being    connected    among    themselves    by   long 
fibres,  are  called  neuro  muscular  cells,  because  they 


ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS.  71 

perform  in  the  simplest  manner  possible  at  the  same 
time  both  the  functions  of  nerves  as  well  as  those  of 
the  muscles  in  more  highly  organized  animals. 

Man,  considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the  theory 
of  evolution,  must  be  regarded  as  a  most  highly  de- 
veloped Hydra.  In  man  the  inner  skin,  or  entoderm, 
through  constant  specialization  of  work,  through  the 
perfectionment  and  increase  of  the  functions,  has  been 
developed  into  lungs,  stomach,  intestines,  heart,  liver, 
and  kidneys.  The  ectoderm,  or  outer  skin,  has  been 
transformed  into  the  epithelium,  muscles,  nerves, 
bones,  and  brain.  The  activity  of  the  soul  proper — 
i.  e.,  of  that  part  of  the  soul,  or  the  whole  form  of  the 
organism,  which  discharges  the  most  important  func- 
tions,— has  been  concentrated  in  the  brain. 

Professor  Hseckel,  in  one  of  his  lectures,  beautifully 
explains,  how  each  cell,  even  the  plant-cell,  is  endowed 
with  a  peculiar  soul  of  its  own  ;  but  in  higher  animals 
there  are  formed  through  a  division  of  work  special 
soul-cells  in  the  shape  of  nerve-substance. 

The  vegetable  world  could  not  raise  its  humble  and 
modest  existence  to  such  a  height,  as  to  differentiate 
its  soul-life  in  special  soul- cells  or  nerves.  And  the 
reason  why  plants  remain  on  a  much  lower  level  than 
animals,  is  mainly  due  to  the  fact,  that  the  plant  chiefly 
lives  upon  inorganic  elements,  deriving  nourishment 
from  its  immediate  environment,  from  the  earth,  the 
air,  and  the  water.  Under  the  influence  of  the  sun, 
the  plant  decomposes  water  and  carbonic  acid,  setting 
free  their  oxygen.  It  retains  the  carbon  of  the  car- 
bonic acid,  and  the  hydrogen  of  the  water.  At  the 
same  time  it  absorbs  nitrogen  compounds  from  its  sur- 
roundings. The  products  of  these  decompositions  are 
then  united  into  those  combinations  of  carbon,  nitro- 


72  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

gen,  and  hydrogen,  which  serve  animals  as  food.  The 
plant,  accordingly,  (or  more  correctly  expressed,  the 
solar-heat  in  the  plant,)  performs  the  work  of  decom- 
posing the  surrounding  elements  and  building  up  out 
of  the  simple  products  of  decomposition  higher  com- 
binations that  are  more  complicated  and  contain  po- 
tential energy.  The  functions  of  the  animal  body  are 
performed  exactly  in  an  inverse  order.  The  plant-cell 
decomposes  in  order  to  build  up,  the  animal-cell  builds 
up  in  order  to  decompose. 

The  higher  a  combination  is,  the  less  stable  it  is. 
Like  a  house  of  cards,  it  easily  breaks  down  and  sets 
free  the  energy  stored  up  in  its  structure.  Animal 
bodies  decompose  vegetable  combinations  in  order  to 
transform  them  into  much  higher  combinations  which 
are  extremely  unstable,  and  thus  they  gather  a  store 
of  potential  energy  that,  whenever  wanted,  can  be  con- 
verted into  the  kinetic  energy  of  living  movements. 

Animal  life  is  conditioned  by  plant-life ;  plant-life 
must  perform  the  preparatory  work ;  it  collects  by  the 
aid  of  sun-beams  a  treasure  of  potential  energy,  whence 
animal  life  can  derive  the  strength  of  its  existence. 

Since  plant-life  disengages  comparatively  little  en- 
ergy and  that  which  it  disengages,  seems  solely  de- 
voted to  decomposition,  plants  naturally  lack  volun- 
tary motion,  and  therewith  all  the  higher  soul-life  of 
the  animal  world.  Exceptions  to  this  rule  are  mostly 
illusions.  Such  motions  as  those  of  the  sun-flower, 
turning  its  head  toward  the  light,  and  the  closing  ot 
the  morning-glory  after  sunrise,  cannot  be  considered 
as  voluntary.  And  such  instances  as  the  movements 
of  the  Mimosae  and  the  Venus  fly-trap  are  at  best  slight 
indications  only  of  the  higher  possibilities  which  are 
realized  in  animal  life. 


ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS.  73 

Darwin's  interesting  and  well-known  researches 
upon  this  subject  seem  to  confirm,  that  the  movements 
which  take  place  in  these  plants  in  consequence  of  an 
irritation,  can  partly,  at  least,  be  referred  to  the  con- 
traction of  certain  cells.  As  soon  as  the  hair-like  fibres 
on  the  upper  edge  of  the  fly  trap  are  irritated,  they 
transmit  the  irritation  to  the  cells  of  the  middle-ribs  of 
the  side-leaves,  whereby  such  a  change  is  effected  in 
the  cells  that  both  halves  of  the  leaf  approach  each 
other.  The  nature  of  this  change  in  the  fly-trap  has 
not  as  yet  been  sufficiently  established.  But,  it  is 
highly  probable,  that  the  movement  in  question  is 
caused  by  some  kind  of  purely  mechanical  pressure, 
and  not  through  any  disengagement  of  energy  in  the 
plasma  of  the  cell.  Yet,  even  if  this  were  the  case, 
it  still  differs  immensely  from  the  voluntary  movement 
of  animal  substance,  even  in  so  low  an  organism  as  is 
the  amoeba  ;  and  we  can  look  upon  the  motions  of  the 
Venus  fly-traps  as  upon  a  faint  analogy  only  to  the 
activity  of  the  animal  world,  and  very  rare,  indeed, 
are  instances  of  such  motions  in  the  world  of  plants. 

The  work  of  the  nerves  or  soul-cells  consists  in  the 
transmission  of  an  irritation,  caused  through  an  out- 
ward impression.  The  irritation  provokes  a  movement 
which  is  called  the  reflex-motion  of  the  irritation.  It 
is  considered  as  a  reaction,  and  physiologists  speak  of 
"a  change  of  irritation  into  reflex-motion." 

Nerves,  accordingly,  perform  two  functions : 

1.  An   irritation  is  received  at  the  periphery  (the 
outer  skin)  of  an  organism  ;  and 

2.  A  reaction  takes  place  in  the  interior  of  the  nerv- 
ous substance.      It  is  conducted  on  another  path  back 
to   the  periphery,  causing   the  contraction  of  certain 
fibres  beneath  the  skin,  thus  resulting  in  motion. 


74 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


In  this  manner  two  kinds  of  nerve-fibers  are  formed, 
in-going  and  out-going  lines,  centripetal  or  afferent, 
and  centrifugal  or  efferent  nerves,  which  meet  in  a 
knot,  the  so-called  ganglion.  The  centripetal  nerves 
are  called  sensory,  the  centrifugal  motory. 

As    an   in- 
stance of  an  ex- 
tremely simple 
nervous  system 
consisting  sole- 
ly of  a  ganglion 
with  aff  e  r  e  n  t 
and    erf  e  r  e  n  t 
nerves,    we 
mention     the 
whirl-worm  or 
S  Turb ellaria. 
-Jl  The  skin  of  this 
rorm  is  differ- 

w 

entiated  in  two 
m  places  on  each 
side,  in  the  one 
as  eye  in  adap- 
tation to  the 
rays  of  light, 
and in  the  other 
as  ear,  under 
the  influence 
of  the  waves  of 
sound. 

What  an  enormous  distance  from  a  worm  like  this 
unto  man,  who  in  his  complicated  nervous  system  con- 
tains hundreds  and  thousands  of  such  minute  gang- 


TURBELLARIA,    ACCORDING    TO    H/ECKEL. 


g,  Ganglion. 

s,  Sensory  fibres. 
m,  Motory  fibres. 

t,  Tentacles  (feelers). 
a,  Eye. 


o,  Ear. 
h,  Skin. 

f,  A  layer  of  muscles. 
w,  Cilias  covering  the 
skin. 


ANIMALS  AND  PLANTS. 


75 


lion-systems,    partly  coordinated    and    partly    subor- 
dinated in  a  rich  and  systematic  arrangement  ! 

If  comparative 
physiology  hasnot  as 
yet  succeeded  in  dis- 
covering  all  the 
many  millions  of 
links  from  the 
amoeba  up  to  man, 
what  does  it  matter? 
The  evolution  of  man 
from  a  lowly  origin 
can  no  longer  be  re- 
jected if  we  consider 
that  cont-inuity  is 
throughout  the  char- 
acteristic feature  of 
life.  Man  represents 
life  from  the  very  be- 
ginning of  life  and 
what  he  is  he  is 
through  the  history 
of  his  race. 

That  man  has  risen 
from  a  low  beginning 
to  that  height,  is  not 
humiliating  to  h  i  m 
but  elevating;  it 
proves  that  he  may 


THE   NERVOUS   SYSTEM    OF    MAN. 


a,  Brain. 

b,  Cerebellum. 

c,  Spinal  cord. 

d,  Facial  nerve. 

e,  Brachial  plexus. 

f,  Internal  cutaneous  nerve  of  the  arm. 

f,  Mesial  nerve  of  the  arm. 
,  Cubital  or  ulnar  nerve. 

i,  Sciatic  plexus,  giving  rise  to  the  prin-  ,,,-_  «.:„„,»  f~  rUwol,™ 
ciple  nerves  of  the  lower  extremities.  Continue  tO  develop 
/,  Intercostal  nerves.  i  •  _0  i  „„&-.  +  ~  ~ 
k,  Femural  plexus.  nis  soul  GVCn  t  O  a 
/,  Radial  nerve  of  the  arm.  ^  and  nobler 


External  peroneal  nerve. 
«,  /,  Tibial  nerve. 

o,  External  sapheneous  nerve. 


greater 
future. 


FEELING  AS  A  PHYSIOLOGICAL  PROCESS. 


In  the  first  chapter  of  this  book  "Feeling  and 
Motion,"  the  question  was  proposed  :  "  What  is  the 
molecular  combination  that  is  accompanied  with  feel- 
ing, and  what  is  its  mode  of  action  ?  " 

This  question  is  not  as  yet  answered  by  physiology. 
It  is  a  problem  still,  and  we  are  far  from  a  solution 
that  would  be  satisfactory  in  all  its  details.  We  know 
something. about  the  subject,  but  that  something  is 
very  little  in  comparison  to  what  our  physiologists 
would  like  to  know. 

The  ganglions  are  for  good  reasons  supposed  to 
be  the  seat  of  feeling  ;  yet  it  must  not  be  understood 
that  feeling  is  created  there  alone.  It  is  there  alone 
that  feeling  is  centralized.  It  appears  that  the  sen- 
sory organs  with  their  natural  covering,  the  skin,  also 
belong  to  the  whole  feeling  apparatus.  Every  one 
of  them  is  an  indispensable  part  for  the  production  of 
normal  feelings.  If  anyone  of  these  parts  is  injured, 
feeling  will  either  cease  altogether  or  at  least  be  dis- 
turbed. If,  for  instance,  the  tactile  bodies  (the  Pa- 
cinian  corpuscles)  are  not  covered  with  skin,  irrita- 
tions will  no  longer  be  felt  as  tactile  impressions,  but 
as  pain. 

The  process  of  a  nervous  transmission  is  extremely 
complicated,  and  our  observation  is  limited  to  its 
crudest  outlines  only.  We  know,  however,  that  the 
transmission  through  the  ganglions  must  be  even  more 


THE  PROCESS  OF  FEELING.  77 

complicated  than  the  transmission  through  the  fibres, 
for  according  to  minute  measurements  by  Helmholtz, 
a  nervous  shock  travels  through  the  human  nerve 
fibre  at  an  average  rate  of  30-40  metres  in  a  sec- 
ond, but  it  is  much  retarded  on  its  passage  through 

the  ganglions. 

* 
*  * 

Du  Bois  Reymond  has  proved  that  every  trans- 
mission of  nervous  irritations  is  accompanied  with 
electrical  phenomena.  The  apparatus  connected  with 
the  nerve  for  measuring  the  electric  tension  shows  a 
decrease  of  the  strength  of  the  current  during  a  state 
of  nervous  activity.  This  was  called  by  Du  Bois  Rey- 
mond negative  Schwankung,  "negative  fluctuation." 

The  negative  fluctuation  of  the  electric  tension,  it 
may  be  incidentally  mentioned,  is  not  at  all  a  phe- 
nomenon of  nervous  activity  alone.  Du  Bois  Rey- 
mond's  law  holds  good  for  muscular  fibres  also.  In 
a  state  of  rest,  the  living  muscle,  like  the  nerve,  shows 
in  the  galvanometer  the  presence  of  a  low  and  con- 
stant current,  which  in  a  state  of  activity  noticeably 
decreases,  proving  that  that  much  electricity  is  being 
used  in  other  directions. 

The  nervous  system  is  often,  and  not  without  good 
and  obvious  reasons,  represented  as  a  telegraphic  ap- 
paratus. The  method  of  transmission  also  has  re- 
peatedly been  compared  to  our  modern  system  of 
telegraphing  through  electric  currents.  The  won- 
derful achievements  which  man  accomplished  with 
the  help  of  electricity,  seemed  to  suggest  that  ner- 
vous transmission  might  be  of  an  electrical  nature. 
Since  the  discovery,  however,  made  by  Du  Bois  Rey- 
mond, we  know  for  certain  that  this  is  an  error.  Ner- 
vous transmissions  are  accompanied  by  electrical  phe- 


78  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

nomena,  yet  they  cannot  be  explained  as  such.  This 
is  evident  even  from  the  different  rate  of  transmission  ; 
electricity  travels,  according  to  Wheatstone,  464,000, 
ooo  metres  in  one  second,  while  the  velocity  of  ner- 
vous irritations,  in  spite  of  all  the  fabulous  swiftness 
of  thought,is  more  than  ten  million  times  slower  ;  and  if 
nerve-activity  is  to  be  regarded  as  electrical  action,  how 
can  it  differ  from  muscular  activity  which  exhibits  the 
very  same  electrical  phenomena  ?  Neither  can  the 
nerve-fibres  be  compared  to  the  wires  of  a  telegraph, 
which  are  transmitters  simply  of  the  electric  current ; 
for  every  single  nerve-cell  in  a  nervous  fibre,  and  also 
every  cell  in  the  muscular  fibre,  is  in  itself  a  small 
electric  battery.  The  whole  process  of  nervous  trans- 
mission may  rather  be  compared  to  a  number  of 
small  explosions  transmitted  over  a  line  of  grains  of 
powder.  An  irritation,  i.  e.,  an  impression  received 
by  some  contact  with  the  outer  world  in  a  sensory 
organ,  being  transmitted  through  the  sensory  fibre  to 
the  ganglion,  and  from  the  ganglion  through  the 
motor  fibre  to  a  muscle,  causes  along  the  whole  tract 
of  its  transmission  a  continuous  discharge  of  potential 
energy  stored  up  in  the  nervous  substance.  The 
transmission  being  accompanied  with  many  other 
phenomena,  ends  in  an  innervation  of  the  muscle  which 
forms  the  terminus  of  the  motor  nerve.  This  inner- 
vation is  the  nervous  discharge  that  causes  the  muscle 

to  contract  and  thus  produces  mechanical  motion. 

* 
*  * 

Let  us  for  the  sake  of  illustration  represent  the 
nerves  as  a  series  of  compressed  springs,  so  arranged 
that  if  one  is  released  it  will  at  the  same  time  release 
the  next  following ;  thus  any  disturbance  will  travel 
from^ne  to  the  other  along  the  whole  series.  The 


THE  PROCESS  OF  FEELING.  79 

organism  is  constantly  at  work  to  repair  the  losses  in- 
curred. As  soon  as  potential  energy  is  set  free,  new 
structures  are  built  by  the  circulating  fluids  freighted 
with  vitalized  substances.  Thus  by  the  activity  of 
the  blood,  to  return  again  to  our  simile,  the  dis- 
charged springs  of  the  nervous  system  are  again  and 
again  compressed,  and  thus  they  are,  unless  the  ex- 
haustion be  carried  too  far,  always  ready  for  action. 

If  a  shock  is  transmitted,  the  effects  produced  de- 
pend first  upon  the  shock  itself.  The  more  violent  a 
shock  is  the  more  sudden  will  the  disturbance  be. 
And  if  a  shock  covers  a  larger  field  of  the  skin,  it 
must  necessarily  irritate  a  larger  number  of  nerve- 
fibres,  thus  producing  a  greater  excitement  than  if 
two  or  three  nerve-fibres  were  disturbed  only.  Yet  the 
main  determining  factor  of  the  effect,  it  appears,  is 
the  specific  energy  (as  Johannes  Miiller  called  it)  of 
the  nervous  substance  in  the  nerve  as  well  as  in  the 
ganglion.  Similarly,  if  a  shock  is  transmitted  through 
a  series  of  springs,  the  effect  will  depend  upon  the 
springs  chiefly — upon  their  form  and  their  tension ; 
form  and  tension  are  the  "  specific  energy  "of  the 
springs.  The  different  nerves  became  adapted  to 
special  irritations.  The  optic  nerve  became  adapted 
to  the  ether  waves  ;  their  irritations  are  transferred  to 
the  optic  ganglions,  and  there  possibly  the  disturbance 
is  accompanied  with  a  feeling  called  light.  The  auditory 
nerve  became  adapted  to  air  waves ;  this  irritation 
is  transmitted  to  the  auditory  ganglion,  and  there 
possibly  it  is  accompanied  with  a  feeling  called  sound  ; 
etc.  By  a  constant  and  exclusive  use  for  their  special- 
ized purposes  through  many  thousands  of  genera- 
tions, the  tissues  became  so  adapted  to  their  special 
work,  that  now  they  cannot  otherwise  react  against 


8o  THE,  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

any  kind  of  irritation  than  as  sensations,  the  one  of 
light  and  the  other  of  sound.  Any  disturbance,  a  ray 
of  light  as  well  as  an  electric  current,  or  a  mechanical 
concussion,  will  produce  sensations  of  light  on  the 
optic  nerve,  and  sensations  of  sound  in  the  auditory 
nerve.  The  same  causes  will  produce  sensations  of 
smell  in  the  olfactory  nerve,  and  sensations  of  touch 
or  of  temperature  in  the  sensory  nerves  that  terminate 
in  the  skin.* 

The  feeling  which  originates  in  the  ganglion,  dur- 
ing the  transmission  of  a  nervous  perturbation,  can 
depend  upon  the  forms  only  of  the  different  cells.  A 
certain  shock  is  received  which  sets  free  a  series  of 
tensions ;  the  liberation  of  some  of  these  tensions  in 
the  ganglion  is  a  commotion  of  sensory  cells,  accom- 
panied by  feeling.  It  is  called  a  sensation.  The 
course  of  motions  nowhere  ceases  to  consist  of  mo- 
tions. We  have  a  continuous  transference  of  motions, 
yet  some  of  these  motions  are  accompanied  with  feel- 
ing. These  feelings  are  different  among  themselves, 
and  we  have  sufficient  evidence  to  believe  that  their 
difference  exactly  corresponds  to  the  different  forms 
of  nervous  action  which  they  accompany.  We  may, 
accordingly,  without  impropriety,  speak  in  this  sense 
of  the  different  forms  of  feelings. 

Suppose  we  had  before  us  a  line  of  cards  arranged 
in  pairs  leaning  one  against  the  other,  in  such  a 
manner  that  a  slight  shock  will  upset  the  whole 
series ;  a  simile  often  employed  to  explain  the  trans- 
ference of  nervous  shocks.  At  a  certain  point,  in 
about  the  middle  of  the  line,  let  us  suppose  that  a 
bell  is  fixed,  the  tongue  of  which  strikes  the  bell  upon 

*  Compare  E.  Hering,  "The  Specific  Energies  of  the  Nervous  System," 
Nos.  22  and  23  of  The  Open  Court. 


THE  PROCESS  OF  FEELING.  81 

the  overthrow  of  the  two  adjoining  cards.  At  the 
end  of  the  line,  upon  the  two  last  pairs  of  cards, 
stands  a  small  vessel  filled  with  water.  Upon  the  over- 
throw of  the  cards  the  water  is  spilt.  The  striking  of 
the  bell  represents  sensation,*  the  spilling  of  the  water 
muscle-innervation.  The  striking  of  the  bell  is  not 
changed  into  a  spilling  of  water :  the  former  only  pre- 
cedes the  latter  in  time.  If  a  nerve  is  irritated  below 
the  ganglion,  a  muscle-innervation  takes  place  with- 
out sensation,  with  the  same  necessity  as  the  water  is 
spilt  without  any  previous  sounding  of  the  bell,  when 
the  cards  below  the  bell  only  have  been  upset.  But 
when  the  motor  nerve  is  cut,  and  the  sensory  nerve 
is  irritated  alone,  then  sensation  only  occurs,  without 
any  reflex  muscular  motion,  just  as  a  perturbation  of 
the  upper  line  of  cards  will  make  the  bell  sound,  but  if 
the  line  below  the  bell  is  interrupted,  it  will  not  cause 
the  spilling  of  the  water. 

The  mechanical  connection  of  causes  and  effects 
need  not  be  interrupted,  if  that  part  of  the  transmit- 
tance  of  nervous  irritations  which  takes  place  in  the 
ganglion  is  so  disturbed  as  to  produce  no  actual  feeling. 

*  The  simile  is  in  so  far  inadequate  as  the  striking  of  the  bell  and  the 
air  vibrations  of  sound  are  motions  also.  Feeling,  however,  is  no  motion, 
and  does  not  originate  from  a  transformation  of  either  potential  or  kinetic 
energy. 

Some  psychologists  compare  the  phenomenon  of  feeling  to  the  shadow 
which  accompanies  the  motions  of  a  body.  But  a  shadow  is  the  absence 
of  light  and  light  again  is  a  mode  of  motion.  Feeling  is  no  motion,  nor  is  it  the 
disappearance  of  motions.  Other  psychologists  have  compared  conscious- 
ness to  the  sparks  that  an  engine  emits  with  the  smoke.  Sparks  also,  being 
little  particles  of  fire,  are  modes  of  motion.  Thus  these  similes  are  also 
inadequate. 

It  will  be  difficult,  if  at  all  possible,  to  find  an  appropriate  simile,  and 
why?  Because,  whatever  allegory  we  take  from  the  processes  of  the  objec- 
tive world,  we  constantly  remain  in  the  province  of  objectivity.  Whatever  un- 
speakable difference  there  may  be  between  two  processes  of  objective  phenom- 
ena, they  belong  to  the  same  domain  ;  while  the  domain  of  subjective  reality 
or  feeling,  in  spite  of  the  parallelism  between  both,  is  so  heterogeneous  that  it 
suffers  no  comparison. 


82  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

Suppose  the  bell  be  covered  with  a  woolen  cloth, 
will  not  then  the  phenomenon  of  sound  that  accom- 
panies the  process  cease  altogether,  although  other- 
wise there  is  nothing  changed  in  the  mechanism  of  the 
transmission  ?  And  when,  through  alcoholic  poison- 
ing, through  medical  drugs  (anaesthetics),  or  through 
any  nervous  disturbance,  consciousness  is  for  a  time 
obliterated,  may  not  a  man  under  certain  circum- 
stances act  exactly  as  if  he  were  in  full  possession  of 
consciousness?  Does  not  often  an  intoxicated  man 
or  a  hypnotized  subject  move  about  and  talk  like  other 
people,  and  yet  he  knows  nothing  and  afterwards  he 
will  remember  nothing  of  all  that  happened  ? 

The  concatenation  of  circumstances  is  such  that 
we  are  easily  misled  to  suppose  that  when  the  cards 
are  overthrown  the  striking  of  the  bell  causes  the  spill- 
ing of  the  water,  and  that  consciousness  sets  the 
muscles  in  motion.  On  this  supposition  only,  which 
takes  a  post  hoc  as  a  propter  hoc,  i.  e.,  a  mere  se- 
quence as  a  causal  connection,  is  based  the  assump- 
tion that  consciousness  is  the  motor  power,  the  pri- 
mum  movens,  of  the  soul ;  the  cause,  the  principium, 
and  beginning  of  man's  muscular  movements,  the  ori- 
gin and  source  of  his  activity.  However,  conscious- 
ness does  not  produce  the  activity  of  our  body.  Con- 
sciousness, as  M.  Ribot  says,  does  not  constitute  the 
situation  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  constituted  by  the  situ- 
ation. Consciousness  is  an  indicator  only  of  a  certain 
condition  of  our  nerve-activity.  It  is  not  the  cause  of 
a  man's  will,  but  it  is  the  expression  of  a  certain  state 
of  mind,  which,  under  normal  conditions,  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  an  act  of  will,  be  it  a  real  muscular  motion, 
a  spoken  word,  which  of  course  is  muscular  motion 
also,  or  the  inhibition  of  a  motion. 


THE  PROCESS  OF  FEELING.  83 

Every  idea  considered  not  as  a  mere  feeling  but  as 
a  brain-structure  fit  to  serve  as  an  irritation  to  ac- 
tion (we  call  such  ideas  impulses),  will,  if  not  in- 
hibited, pass  into  an  act,  whether  it  be  connected  with 
consciousness  or  not.  Consciousness  itself  is  not  the 
motion  that  causes  the  transmission  of  nervous  irrita- 
tions, it  is  not  the  agency  that  discharges  the  inner- 
vation  for  contracting  the  muscles.  It  is  a  phenome- 
non that  merely  accompanies  the  physiological  pro- 
cess of  a  nervous  transmission  through  the  ganglion. 

It  is  not  the  shadow  that  makes  our  body  move  ; 
it  is  the  body  that  moves  ;  and  the  shadow  accom- 
panies the  movement.  It  is  not  the  ticking  of  the 
pendulum  that  sets  the  wheels  of  the  clock  in  mo- 
tion, but  the  swinging.  The  motion  of  the  clock  is 
produced  by  the  pressure  of  the  weight  which  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  pendulum  in  the  form  of  vibrations. 
The  motion  of  our  limbs  is  caused  through  the  trans- 
mission of  a  nervous  perturbation,  setting  free  a 
part  of  the  potential  energy  stored  up  in  our  motor 
nerves  and  in  our  muscles ;  but  there  is,  properly 
speaking,  no  change  of  ' '  consciousness  "  into  "will," 
no  change  of  "feeling"  into  "motion." 

When  we  compare  consciousness  to  the  ticking  of 
a  pendulum,  we  do  not  wish  to  maintain  that  con- 
sciousness is  as  superfluous  and  indifferent  as  the  tick- 
ing of  a  pendulum.  We  merely  express  in  this  simile 
that  it  is  destitute  of  motor  power.  Although  con- 
sciousness is  destitute  of  motor  power,  it  is  neverthe- 
less of  paramount  importance.  There  is  nothing  re- 
dundant in  nature  ;  how  can  consciousness  be  a  su- 
perfluous factor  in  the  constitution  of  man's  mind  ? 

Consciousness  may  be  compared  to  a  light.  It  af- 
fords in  novel  and  difficult  situations  the  possibility  of 


84  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

circumspection.  The  light  in  a  machine  room  will  en- 
able the  attendant  engineer  properly  to  regulate  the 
motions  of  the  engine  ;  but  the  rays  of  the  lantern 
have  no  locomotive  power  upon  the  wheels  and  piston, 
so  as  to  set  the  engine  into  action.  If  the  engineer 
is  a  novice,  he  cannot  do  his  work  without  light,  but 
the  expert  knows  how  to  direct  the  lever  even  in  the 
dark.  The  consciousness  of  mental  states  is  an  indis- 
pensable condition  of  the  proper  direction  of  will,  but 
it  does  not  possess  motor  power. 


THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM  OF  WORMS,  RADIATES, 
AND  ARTICULATES. 


THE  simplest  nervous  system  consists  of  a  single 
ganglion  with  afferent  and  efferent  fibres.  Its  action 
is  represented  in  the  adjoined  diagram.  The  sensory 
irritation  is  transmitted  as  a  primitive  reflex  motion 
from  the  skin,  or  the  sensory  organs  in  the 
skin  (•$!/),  through  the  ganglion  (G)  to  the 
muscles  {MM},  thus  starting  from  and  re- 
turning to  the  periphery ;  and  we  have  rea- 
son to  suppose  that  the  transmission  of  this 
nervous  irritation  is  accompanied  in  the  ganglion  by 
an  extremely  vague  kind  of  feeling. 


A  ganglion  constituting  the  centre  of  so  simple  a 
nervous  system  as  is  for  instance  that  of  the  whirl- 
worm,  is  called  a  primitive  brain. 


86 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


Not  much  more  complicated  are  the  nervous  sys- 
tems of  Radiates,  whose  organs  are  arranged  in  a  circle 
like  the  parts  of  a  flower.  The  starfishes  belong  to 
this  class  ;  they  may  be  regarded  as  five  worms  having 

a  mouth  and  a  digestive 
organ  in  common.  Each 
arm  possesses  a  small 
ganglion  (i)  near  the 
mouth.  The  five  gang- 
lions are  interconnected 
by  a  ring  (2)  around  the 
mouth ;  and  a  nervous 
fibre  passes  along  on  the 
lower  or  ven  t  r  a  1  side 
from  each  gang  lion  to 
the  end  of  each  of  the 
several  arms. 

Mollusk  life  is  char- 
acterized by  a  strong  de- 
velopment of  the  vege- 
tative functions.  Mol- 
lusks  are  mere  bags 


NERVOUS    SYSTEM     OF     A     STARFISH. 

(The  rays  are  cutoff.) 

1.  Ganglions. 

2.  Connecting  fibres,   encircling 
the  mouth  and  establishing  a  com- 
munication among  the  five  gang- 
lions. 

3.  Nervous  fibres  running  along 
lower  surface  to  the  ends  of  the  rays 


containing  organs  of  digestion,  respiration,  circu- 
lation, and  generation.  Ascidians  (or  pouch-creatures) 
and  Conchs  (or  shells)  have  no  head  whatever ;  they 
lead  a  mere  vegetative  life.  Conchs  are  now  regarded 
as  degenerated  snails.  Snails  are  in  possession  of  a 
feebly  developed  head  with  eyes,  tentacles,  mouth, 
jaws,  and  a  tongue.  The  ventral  part  of  the  body, 
the  foot  of  the  snail,  is  its  sole  organ  of  locomotion ; 
it  consists  of  a  contractile  layer  of  muscular  fibres. 
The  highest  developed  mollusks  are  the  Cephalopods, 
or  head-footed  creatures,  possessing  a  circle  of  organs 
of  locomotion  (we  may  call  them  arms  or  feet)  about 


WORMS,  RADIA  TES,  ARTICULA  TES.      87 

their  mouth.     Such  creatures  are  the  cuttle-fish,  or 
Sepia,  and  the  Nautilus. 

The  most  characteristic  feature  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem of  Mollusks  (as  represented  in  the  snail)  is  the 
cesophagean  ring,  surrounding  the  gullet.  There  are 
ganglionic  knots  at  the  upper  and  at  the  lower  part  of 
the  ring.  The  upper  part  is  a  primitive  brain,  receiv- 
ing sensory  fibres  from  the  tentacles,  etc.,  while  the 
lower  part  acts  as  the  centre  of  the  respiratory  and  lo- 
comotive functions.  The  lower  ganglion  is  often  dif- 
ferentiated into  two  distinct  parts,  and  in  that  case  the 
cesophagean  ring  appears  double ;  the  anterior  ring 
connecting  the  brain  with  the  pedal  ganglion  for  loco- 
motion, the  posterior  with  the  branchial  ganglion  for 
respiration. 


NERVOUS    SYSTEMS   OF 

A.  Common  Sandhopper.     (Talitrus  locusta.}   Showing  (on  the  right  side) 
two  separate  cerebral  ganglia,  each  about  the  same  size  as  the  other  ganglia 
situated  below  it  on  the  separate  ventral  chords.     (After  Grant.) 

B.  Cymothoa.    (Fish-louse.)  Cerebral  ganglia   (on  the  right  side)  almost 
wholly  absent  from  cesophagean  ring. 

C.  Crab.  (Palinurus  vulgaris.}  The  cerebral  ganglia  (on  the  right  side) 
receiving  the  optic,  tactile,  and  other  nerves,  are  fused  into  one.    The  oesoph- 
agean  ring  elongated  ;  the  ventral  ganglion  strongly  developed. 

The  nervous  system  of  Articulates  consists   of  a 
series  of  ganglions,  situated  below  the  intestinal  canal 


88 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


and  interconnected  by  a  nervous  fibre.  In  addition  to 
this  series  of  ganglions  the  front  segment  or  head  pos- 
sesses an  resophagean  ring,  similar  to  that  of  Mollusks, 
bearing  at  its  upper  part  the  head- ganglion  or  primi- 
tive brain. 

The  single  ganglions  of  Articulates,  being  situated 
in  the  various  separate  segments,  are  endowed  with  an 
extraordinary  independence.  They  act  not  so  much 
in  subordination  to  as  in  co-operation  with  the  front 
ganglion.  For  instance.  If  the  head  of  a  centipede 


WHITE  ANT       (Termes),  WATERBEETLE   (Dytiscus},    FLY  (Musca). 

(From  Gegenbauer.    After  Blanchard.) 
gs.  Supra-cesophagean  ganglion  (brain). 
gi.  Infra-cesophagean  ganglion. 
gr-i  S2>  S3-  Thoracic  ganglions  (partly  fused). 
o.  Optic  nerves. 

be  quickly  cut  off  while  the  creature  is  in  motion,  the 
legs  will  mechanically  continue  to  run  on  until  they  are 
brought  to  a  stop  by  some  interposed  obstacle.  The 


WORMS,  RA DIA  TES,  A R  TICULA  TES.      89 


CATERPILLAR,  CHRYSALIS,  AND  PERFECT  INSECT  OF  HAWK-MOTH  (Sphin 

The  first  figure  shows  the  full  grown  caterpillar  .about  two  days  before 
changing  to  a  chrysalis.  It  resembles  much  the  nervous  system  of  the  Centipede. 
The  two  cerebral  ganglions  are  small,  and  the  ganglions  in  the  ventral  cord 
(i-io)  are  almost  uniform.  The  nerves  of  the  head  (ab)  are  weakly,  those  of 
the  other  fibres  (c-n)  fairly,  developed. 

The  middle  figure  represents  the  chrysalis  of  the  same  creature  30  days 
after  the  change  from  a  caterpillar.  The  abdominal  chords  are  much  short- 
ened, some  of  its  ganglia  fuse. 

The  third  figure  shows  the  perfected  insect. 

A,  Cerebral  ganglion. 

B.  Optic  ganglion. 

Note  the  increased  size  of  the  cerebral  ganglion  and  of  some  parts  of  the 
ventral  cord;  while  some  parts  are  concentrated  or  even  suppressed. 
O.  Respiratory  nerves. 


THE  SGUL  OF  MAN. 


i 
g 


g 


NERVOUS    SYSTEM    OF    THE   GREAT    GREEN    GRAS- 

HOPPER.     (After  Newport.) 

A.  Cerebral  ganglion. 

B.  Optic  nerves. 

D.  Antennal  nerves. 

d.  Motor  nerves  of  mandible,  from  sub-ceso- 
phagean  ganglion. 

e.  Fibres    connecting    the     sub-oasophsgean 
with  the  first  thoracic  ganglion. 

g.  First  thoracic  ganglion. 

h.  Commissures  connecting  thoracic  ganglia. 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM  OFMEDICAL 

LEECH.     (After  Owen.) 

a  Double  supr a-ceso- 
phagean  ganglion  con- 
nected with  : 

bb  nerves  ending  in  rudi- 
mentary ocelli ; 

c  infra  -  cesophagean 
ganglion,  continuous  with  a 
double  ventral  chord  bear- 
ing at  intervals  distinct  com- 
pound ganglia. 


WORMS,  RAD  I  A  T£S,  AR  TICULA  TES.      91 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM  OF  AN  OYSTER. 

(Todd.    After  Garner.) 

aa.  Anterior  ganglia ;  being 
situated  on  each  side  of  the 
mouth, interconnected  by  a  fibre 
over-arching  the  mouth. 

II.  Labial  fibres. 

/.  Posterior  or  branchial 
ganglion   (double,  for    respira- 
tion). 

bb.  Branchial  nerves  going  to 
the  gills  (ff.) 

cc.  Commissures  between  lab- 
ial and  branchial  ganglia. 


NERVOUS     SYSTEM     OF     THE*  COMMON 

GARDEN  SNAIL.      (After  Owen.) 
/.  Cerebral     ganglion,     situated 
above    the    oesophagus,    receiving 
nerves  from  the  tentacles. 
«.  Small  tentacle  withdrawn. 

b.  Large  tentacle  with  eyes  (ocelli). 

c.  Large  tentacle  withdrawn. 

d.  Small  tentacle. 

f.  Nerve  fibre  of  large   tentacle. 

k.  Nerve  fibre  of  small  tentacle. 

/.  Cerebral  ganglion  situated 
above  the  oesophagus,  receiving 
nerves  from  tentacles. 

M.  Sub-cesophagean  ganglion,  a 
double  mass,  representing  a  pair  of 
pedal  and  a  pair  of  branchial 
ganglia. 


NERVOUS     SYSTEM    OF    THE   COM- 
MON   SLUG. 

(The    naked    common    garden 

snail ;  one  of  the  nudi- 

branch  mollusks.) 

A,  A.  Cerebral  ganglia. 

B,  B.  Branchial  ganglia. 
D.  Pharyngeal  ganglia. 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


Nautile 


PEARLY    NA 

(After  Owen.     Reproduced  from 

1.  Cerebral  ganglion. 

2.  Optic  nerve. 

3.  Anterior  sub-cesophagean  gang- 
lion. 

4.  Posterior  sub-cesophagean  gang- 
lion. 

5.  Digital  tentacles. 

6.  Nerves    of  external   labial  ten- 
tacles. 

7.  Commissural    fibres  between    8 
and  3. 


UTILUS. 
Fr.  Leuret  and  P.  Gratiolet.) 

8.  Labial  ganglion. 

9.  Nerves   of    internal    labial    ten- 
tacles. 

10.  Olfactive  nerves. 

11.  Infundibular  nerves. 

12  Lingual  and  maxillary  nerve. 

13.  Motor  nerves. 

14.  Visceral  nerves. 

15.  Branchial  nerves. 

16.  Visceral  ganglions. 


WORMS,  RAD  I  A  TES,  AR  TICULA  TES.      93 

ganglions  of  the  various  segments,  it  appears,  have 
not  as  yet  received  information  respecting  the  loss  of 
their  leader.  Similarly,  flies,  after  decapitation,  will 
fly  about  and  execute  all  kinds  of  motions,  like  their 
uninjured  companions. 

The  Articulates  (according  to  Haeckel)  consist  of 
three  classes :  (i)  Annellata,  or  ringed  worms — for 
instance,  earth  worms  and  leeches  \  (2)  Crustacea,  or 
crust-animals — for  instance,  crabs  and  lobsters ;  and 
(3)  Tracheata,  or  wind-pipe  animals,  so  called  by 
Haeckel  because  they  breathe  through  small  tubes. 
The  most  important  Tracheates  are  the  myriapods,  or 
thousand-legs,  the  spiders,  and  the  insects.  The  ner- 
vous systems  of  the  best  known  specimens  of  these 
three  classes  may  be  studied  in  the  prefixed  diagrams. 


THE  CONNECTING  LINK  BETWEEN  THE  IN- 
VERTEBRATES AND  THE  VERTEBRATES. 


PROFESSOR  ERNST  H^CKEL*  in  explaining  the  evolu- 
tion of  Vertebrates  calls  our  attention  to  the  import- 
ance of  Amphioxus  lanceolatus,  a  little  fish  about 
two  inches  long,  shaped  like  a  lancet,  and  living, 
mostly  hidden  in  the  sand,  in  shallow  places  of  the 
Mediterranean,  the  Baltic,  and  the  North  Sea.  It  has 
no  head,  no  cranium,  no  brain.  The  front  part  is  dis- 
tinguishable from  the  hind  part  almost  solely  by  the 
presence  of  the  mouth  surrounded  by  a  number  of 
cilia  ;  and  yet  the  Lanceolate  belongs  to  the  aristocratic 
class  of  Vertebrates  :  it  possesses  a  spinal  cord.  The 
Lanceolate,  accordingly,  is  the  last  surviving  represen- 
tative of  the  lowliest  family  among  the  Vertebrates. 


AMPHIOXUS   LANCEOLATUS. 


Pallas,  the  first  discoverer  of  the  Lanceolate,  did 
not  at  once  recognize  the  importance  of  his  find.  He 
considered  it  as  a  kind  of  imperfect  snail.  Yet  the  pre- 
sence of  a  chorda  dorsalis,  i.  e.  of  a  cartilaginous  string 
forming  the  axis  of  the  skeleton,  and  the  medulla  spwalis 

*NatUrliche  Schopfungsgeschichte,  Chap.  24. 


VER  TEBRA  TE-INVER  TEBRA  TE  LINK.      95 

(spinal  cord),  fix  the  relation  of  this  little  fish  beyond 
all  doubt.  Kowalewsky  and  Kupffer,  moreover,  have 
proved,  that  to  a  certain  degree  the  ontogeny  of  the 
Lanceolate  corresponds  in  all  particulars  on  the  one 
hand  with  that  of  the  lower  Vertebrates  and  on  the 
other  with  that  of  the  Ascidians.  Thus  we  can  con- 
sider it  as  an  established  truth  that  the  Lanceolate  is 
the  connecting  link  between  the  Invertebrates  and  the 

Vertebrates. 

Leuckart  and  Pagenstecher  discovered  in  the  front 
part  of  the  spinal  cord  of  the  Amphioxus  (see  Miiller's 
Archiv,  1858,  p.  561)  a  small  vesicle,  which  represents 
a  primitive  brain — if  brain  it  can  be  called.  However, 
whether  this  vesicle  represents  the  initial  state  of 
all  three  bulbs  that  appear  in  a  higher  development 
(as  W.  Miiller  says),  or  whether  it  represents  the 
third  bulb  only  (as  Mihalkovics  says),  or  whether  it 
corresponds  (as  Huxley  says)  to  the  thalamencephalon, 
i.  e.,  the  second  bulb,  is  still  an  unsettled  question. 
It  is  not  improbable  that  the  Amphioxus  which  we  are 
acquainted  with,  is  a  degenerated  form  of  that  creature 
from  which  the  higher  vertebrates  have  developed. 

In  the  adjoined  plates  Professor  Haeckel  com- 
pares the  development  of  a  mollusk,  like  the  Ascidian 
(A),  with  Amphioxus  lane eolatus  (B).  How  small  are  the 
differences  in  the  beginning  !  And  yet  they  were  destined 
to  keep  the  one  creature  in  its  humble  condition  of  a 
mere  vegetative  existence,  while  the  other  in  the  course 
of  further  evolution  was  enabled  to  gain  dominion 
over  the  whole  creation  of  the  earth. 


96  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


VER TRBRA  TE-1NVER TRBRA TE  LINK.      97 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  PRECEDING  PLATES. 

The  skin  of  both  creatures  being  transparent,  their  inner  organization  is 
plainly  visible. 

The  Dot  in  the  front  part  of  the  Amphioxus  is  a  rudimentary  eye. 

The  Ascidian  A  6  is  firmly  attached  to  the  soil  by  root-like  processes  (w), 
as  if  it  were  a  plant.  The  adult  Amphioxus  however  moves  about  like  a  fish 

a.  Mouth. 

b.  Porus  abdominalis. 

c.  Chorda  dorsalis  (appears  only  in  the  Lanceolate.) 

d.  Intestinal  canal. 

e.  Ovary  \ 

,        r  appears  only  in  the  Ascidian. 

f.  Ovarean  duct  ' 

g.  Spinal  cord  (medulla  dorsalis.) 
h.  Heart. 

i.  Vermiform  appendix, 
k.  Gills. 

1.  Cavity  of  the  body, 
m.  Muscles, 

n.  Testicles  (the  Ascidian  being  hermaphroditic,  the  testicles  combined 
with  the  ovary), 
o.  Anus. 

p.  Sexual  aperture, 
q.  Mature  embryos  of  the  Ascidian. 
r.   Dorsal  fins, 
s.  Tail  of  the  Lanceolate, 
w.  Roots  of  the  Ascidian. 


A.  The  egg  of  the  Ascidian. 

B.  The  egg  of  the  Lanceolate. 
Z.  Protoplasma  of  the  egg. 

Y.  Nucleus. 
X.  Nucleolus. 

Aa,  62,  AS,  BS,  etc.,  the  successive  stages  in  the  development  of  the  eggs 
After  a  repeated   division,  the   germ  forms  a  globule  of  many  cells  (called 
Morula)  the  surface  of  which  in  one  part  sinks  down  so  as  to  present  almost 
the  shape  of  an   india-rubber  ball  from  which  the  air  is  removed.     Thus  a 
gastrula  is  formed  (A4,  64). 
di ' .  Primitive  abdomen. 
d.4.  Primitive  mouth. 

d2.  Entoderm,  inner  membrane  or  abdominal  wall. 
/.  Cavity  of  the  germ. 
t.  ectoderm,  outside  skin. 
A^.  The  Larva  of  the  Ascidian. 
BS.  The  Larva  of  the  Amphioxus. 
di.  The  abdomen  is  closed. 
d2.  The  dorsal  part  is  concave. 
d$.  The  ventral  part  is  convex. 

gi.  The  medullar  cavity  (in  the  Amphioxus  the  primitive  spinal  cord). 
g2.  The  orifice  of  the  medullar  cavity,  not  as  yet  closed. 
d.  Chorda  dorsalis,  in  the  Amphioxus  the  axis  of  the  primitive  back- 
boned    In  the  Larva  of  the  Ascidian  the  chorda  dorsalis  forms  a  tail  which  is 
thrown  off  during  its  metamorphosis.     Those  Ascidians  which  do  not  become 
stationary,  retain  their  tails. 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM  OF  THE  VERTEBRATES. 


THERE  are  several  differences  of  radical  importance 
between  Amphioxus  lanceolatus  and  the  higher  Ver- 
tebrates ;  yet  besides  that  of  the  absence  of  brain 
and  cranium  in  the  former,  there  is  no  greater  disparity 
than  in  the  arterial  system  of  blood-circulation.  The 
Acrania  (the  Vertebrates  without  cranium,  represented 
by  the  Lanceolate)  have  no  proper  hearts ;  their  hearts 
are  mere  arterial  tubes,  while  the  Craniata  (the  Ver- 
tebrates with  a  cranium)  are  throughout  endowed  with 
a  regular  heart,  which,  engine-like,  drives  the  arterial 
blood  through  the  whole  system. 

The  nervous  systems  of  all  the  Vertebrates  are 
greatly  different  from  those  of  the  Invertebrates.  There 
is  no  resophagean  ring  encircling  the  gullet ;  and  in- 
stead of  isolated  ganglia,  we  have  one  continuous 
column  which  is  no  longer  below  but  far  above  the  in- 
testinal canal.  This  column  is  protected  by  bony 
covers  (the  vertebrae)  which  constitute  a  flexible  yet 
strong  backbone.  The  foremost  ganglia  together  with 
their  vertebral  cases  are  transformed  into  brain  and 
cranium  ;  but  the  hemispheres  and  their  bony  cover, 
the  top  of  the  head,  are  an  additional  growth,  which 
has  developed  out  of  the  first  vertebra.* 

*Gegenbauer,  Untersuchungen  zur  Vergleichenden  Anatomic  der  Wir- 
belthiere.  Part.  Ill,  das  Kopfskelett  der  Selachier  als  Grundlage  zur  Beu  rthei 
lung  der  Genese  des  Kopfskeletts  der  Wirbelthiere.  Leipzig  :  1872. 


ioo  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

The  most  prominent  divisions  of  the  nervous  sys- 
tem in  the  Vertebrates,  i.  e.,  in  Fishes,  Reptiles,  Birds, 
and  Mammals,  are  : 

1.  The  Spinal  Cord; 

2.  The  Bulb  (Medulla  Oblongata]\ 

3.  The  Small  Brain  (Cerebellum}; 

4.  The  Bridge  (pons  Varolii)', 

5.  The  Optic  Lobes  ;  and 

6.  The  Thalami  Optici. 

(The  Optic  Lobes  are  of  greater  importance  in  the 
lower  Vertebrates  ;  they  are  called  in  the  physiology 
of  man  the  Four  Hills  (corpora  quadrigemina).  The 
Thalamus  remains  entirely  undeveloped  in  the  lower 
vertebrates.  The  Optic  Lobes  not  showing  in  lower 
vertebrates,  as  in  man,  Four  Hills,  but  only  two,  are 
sometimes  called  Corpora  bigemina,  or  the  Two  Hills.) 

7.  The  Striped  Body  (Corpus  Striatum). 

8.  The  Hemispheres,  or  brain  proper  (Cerebrum). 
The  following  chapters  will  be  devoted  to  the  phy- 
siology of  these  divisions  in  the  brain  of  man. 

As  the  most  representative  examples  of  the  various 
Vertebrates  we  select  a  number  of  diagrams  of  the 
brains  of  fishes,  amphibians,  birds,  and  mammals. 


NERVE-SYSTEM  OF  VERTEBRATA.      101 


BRAIN  OF  A  PERCH.     (Gegenbauer,  after  Cuvier.) 

A.  Cranial  lobe  with  olfactory  ganglion  (/). 

B.  Optic  lobe. 

C.  Cerebellum. 

D.  Medulla  oblongata. 

/.  Olfactory  nerve. 
a.  Nasal  sac. 
//.  Optic  nerve,  severed. 
///.  Oculo-motor  nerve. 
IV.  Trochlear  nerve. 

V.  Trigeminal. 
VII.  Auditory. 

VIII.  Vagus  with  its  ganglion  g. 
kl.  Branches  of  vagus. 

m.  Dorsal  branch  of  trigeminus  in  connection  with  n. 
11.  Dorsal  branch  of  vagus. 
afiy.  The  three  branches  of  the  trigeminus  V. 
de.   Facial  nerve. 
%••  Branches  of  the  vagus. 


102 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


BRAIN  OF  A  PIKE  AND  OF  A  SHARK.     (After  Leuret  and  Gratiolet.) 
tc.  Cerebral  tubercles  (lobes). 
to.  Optic  tubercles  (lobes). 
te.  Ethmoid  or  olfactory  tubercle. 
tv.  Vagus  tubercle.     The  ganglion  of  the  vagus  nerve. 

c.  Cerebellum. 

e.  Olfactory  nerves. 

o.  Optic  nerves. 
/.  Pathetic  nerve. 
m.  Oculo-motor  nerve. 
a.  Abducent  nerve. 

/.  Trifacial  nerve. 
f.  Facial  nerve. 

/.  Labyrinthic  nerve. 

v.  Vagus  or  branchial  nerve. 


NERVE-SYSTEM  OF  VERTEBRATA.     103 


NERVOUS  SYSTEM   OF   FROG,    VENTRAL  SIDE.       (After  Ecker.) 


H.  Hemispheres. 
Lop.  Optic  Lobes. 
M.  Medulla. 
Mi.-Mio.    Spinal 

nerves. 
S.  Sympathetic 

nerve. 
Sf.-Sfo.    Ganglia  of 

the  Sympathetic.' 
MS.    Branches    c  o  n- 

necting  spinal  cord 

and  sympathetic. 
No.  Femoral  nerve. 
Ni.  Sciatic  nerve. 
I-X.  Cranial   nerves. 
/.  Olfactory. 
//.  Optic  nerve  with 

(o)  eye. 
///.  Oculo-motor. 

IV.  Trochlear. 

V.  Trigeminal. 

VI.  Abducent. 

VII.  and  F.  Facial. 
VIIL  Auditory. 

IX.  Glossopharyn- 
geal. 

X.  Vagus. 

Vg.  Gasserian  Gang- 
lion (of  fifth  nerve). 

V^.  Connect  ion  of 
Gasserian  ganglion 
with  the  S  y  m  p  a- 
thetic. 

F.  Facial  nerve. 

G.  Ganglion   of  the 
Vagus. 

Xi-X4.  Branches  of 
the  Vagus. 


104 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


BRAIN  OF  THE  BOA  CONSTRICTOR.     (After  Swan,  reproduced  from  Bastian.) 


Cerebral  lobes. 

Optic  lobes. 

Cerebellum. 

Membrane  of  the  nose. 

Olfactory  nerve. 

Optic  nerve.' 

Third  nerve,  i.  e.  main 

oculo-motor. 
Fourth  nerve  or  troch- 

lear   to   the   superior 

oblique  muscle  of  the 

eye. 

Fifth  nerve. 
Sixth  nerve. 
Seventh  nerve. 
Eighth  nerve. 
Auditory  nerve. 
Glosso  -  p  h  a  r  y  n  g  e  a  1 

nerve. 

Trunk  of  vagus  nerve. 
Twelfth  nerve. 
A  sympathetic    g  a  n  g- 

lion. 


CUCKOO.  OWL. 

(After  Leuret  and  Gratiolet.) 


NERVE-SYSTEM  OF  VERTEBRATA.      105 


BRAINS  OF  EOCENE  MAMMALS.     (From  Wiedersheim,  after  Marsh.) 

A.  Tillotherium  fodiens. 

B.  Brontotherium  ingens. 

C.  Coryphodon  hamatus. 
D.  Dinoceras  mirabile. 

'  .  \  view  of  the  brain  of  Dinoceras  mirabile  (from  a  cast). 

H.  Hemispheres. 

Note  the  enormous  size  of  the  skull  in  comparison  with  a  relatively  small 
brain.     The  olfactory  lobes  are  strongly  developed. 


(After  Leuret  and  Gratiolet.) 


io6 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


BRAIN   OF   A   MAN. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  BRAIN. 


The  nervous  system  originates  as  a  hollow  tube 
formed  by  a  very  thin  film.  At  an  early  stage  of  its 
development,  the  upper  end  (as  seen  in  the  adjoined 
figure)  bulges  out  into  three  continuous  bulbs.  The 
first  is  to  be  the  fore  brain,  the  second  the  mid  brain, 
and  the  third  the  hind  brain. 

EARLY    STAGE    OF    THE    NERVOUS    SYSTEM    IN    THE    DIFFERENTIATION    OF    THE 

EMBRYO.     (From  Wiedersheim.) 


(BD.}  Blastoderm. 
(KS.)   Germinal 

Disc. 
KA.}  Wall  of  the 

body. 
(/?.)  Medullary 

cord. 
(G.)  Brain. 


In  the  further  evolution  of  the  embryo  we  observe 
excrescences  on  each  side  of  the  fore  brain.     The  pas- 


io8 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

JT. 


o. 


SAGITTAL   SECTIONS    REPRESENTING    FIVE    STAGES    OF   CEREBRAL   DEVELOPMENT. 


F.  Fore  brain. 
/.  Intermediate  brain. 
M.  Mid  brain. 
H.  Hind  brain. 
A.  After  brain. 
h.  Hemispheres. 
hp.  Hypophysis. 
p.gl.  Pineal  gland  or  epiphysis. 
inf.  Infundibulum. 
cs.  Corpus  striatum. 
th.  Thalamus  (represented  by  a  dotted  line,  because  growing  oat  from 

the  side  walls  it  does  not  appear  in  a  sagittal  section). 
In  a  further  development  m  sinks  down  to  #2.2,  as  indicated  by  the  dotted 
line  m,  mz.     Thus  the  corpus  striatum  is  placed  alongside  the  thalamus  and 
the  latter  (th)  is  overarched  by  the  Fornix  (F). 


mo.  Medulla  oblongata. 

P.  Pons.  Cb.  Cerebellum. 
CQ.  Corpora  Quadrigemina. 
Cr.  Crus  Cerebri. 

F.  (in  No.  V)  Fornix. 

m.  Foramen  Mpnro. 

3.  Third  ventricle. 

4.  Fourth  ventricle. 
/.  Lateral  ventricle. 
s.  Aquaductus  Sylvii. 


FRONTAL   SECTIONS   REPRESENTING   THREE    STAGES   OF   THE   FORE  BRAIN. 

(After  Wernicke.) 

#i.  Cavity  of  primitive  fore  brain;  (representing  the  third  ventricle). 
aa.  Lateral  ventricles.  inf.  Infundibulum. 

fM.  Foramen  Monro.  cst.  Corpus  striatum. 

th.  Thalamus. 


BRAIN  DEVELOPMENT. 


109 


sage  to  the  mid  brain  is  elongated  and  we  call  it  the 
intermediate  brain.  The  hind  brain  shows  a  new  di- 
vision which  makes  it  slope  by  degrees  into  the  spinal 
cord.  This  part  is  called  the  after  brain. 

The  excrescences  of  the  fore  brain  are  to  become 
the  hemispheres  ;  they  constitute  the  cerebral  region 
of  the  brain.  The  fore-brain  will  shrink  so  as  to  dis- 
appear almost  entirely.  The  intermediate  brain  will 
develop  the  Thalami.  The  mid  brain  the  Four  Hills. 
The  hind  brain  the  Cerebellum  and  pons,  while  the 
after  brain  will  change  into  the  Medulla  Oblongata. 

The  cavities  of  the  tube  will 
remain  also,  although  much  mo- 
dified. The  cavities  in  the  hemi- 
spheres are  called  the  lateral  ven- 
tricles. Through  the  growth  of 
the  walls  they  become  straight- 
ened into  three  narrow  caves 
called  the  anterior,  posterior,  and 
lateral  horns.  The  cavity  of  the 
original  fore  brain  fuses  with  the 
cavity  of  the  intermediate  brain 
into  the  so-called  "  third  ven- 
tricle." The  passage  from  the 
two  lateral  ventricles  into  the 
third  ventricle  is  very  much  re- 
duced ;  it  has  the  shape  of  a  Y, 
and  is  called  Foramen  Monro. 

The  adjoined  figures  and  dia- 
grams show  the  growth  of  the 
different  parts  of  the  brain  from 
its  simplest  beginnings. 


THE  EMBRYO  OF  A    MAMMAL   OR 

BIRD.    (After  Haeckel.) 

f.  Primitive  fore  brain. 

o.  Primitive  eye. 

/.  Intermediate  brain. 
m.  Mid  brain. 

h.  Hind  brain. 

a.  After  brain. 
vv.  Vertebrae. 


md' 


°f  medu"a 


no 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


CORONAL    SECTIONS. 


£;-- /«•• 


-ear 


Early  stage,  representing   the 
foetal  brain  of  a  chick. 
(After   Mihalkovics.) 
psci.  Primitive  fore  brain. 
opt.  Primitive  eye. 
msc.  Mid  brain. 
epci.  Hind  brain. 
epc2.  After  brain. 
spn.  Spinal  cord. 
cor.  Heart. 

t.  Lamina  terminalis. 


Later  stage,  representing  in  a  diagram  the 
fcetal  brain  of  a  mammal.     (McAllister.) 

H.  Hemispheres  (secondary  forebrain), 
representing  the  excrescences  of  the  prim- 
itive fore  brain. 

FB.  Primitive  forebrain. 

Th.  Thalamic  region  or  intermediate 
brain. 

MB^cq.  Mid  brain  =  Corpora  quadri- 
gemina. 

HB=cb.  Hind  brain=  Cerebellum. 

AB.  After  brain=Medulla  oblongata. 

cs.  Corpus  striatum. 

//.  Lateral  ventricles. 

mm.  Foramen  Monro. 

3  3.  Third  ventricle. 

j.  Aquaductus  silvii. 

4.  Fourth  Ventricle. 

t.  Lamina  terminalis. 


The  similarity  of  arrangement  and  the  difference 
of  development  in  the  various  parts  of  the  brain  among 
fishes,  birds,  reptiles,  and  mammals  may  be  studied  in 
the  following  diagrams,  reproduced  from  Edinger. 


BRAIN  DEVELOPMENT. 

SAGITTAL  MEDIAN  SECTIONS  (After  Edinger). 


in 


GENERAL  PLAN  OF  VERTEBRATE  BRAINS. 


112 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


BRAIN  DE  VEL  OPMENT.  1 1 3 


THE  HUMAN  BRAIN,  FULLY  DEVELOPED. 


SPINAL  CORD. 


THE  nervous  system  is  built  up  of  (i)  nervous  sub- 
stance and  (2)  neuroglia.  Nervous  substance  consists 
either  of  ganglionic  cells  or  of  nerve-fibres,  the  latter 


NERVE  CELLS  FROM  SPINAL  CORD.     (Afer  Ranvier.) 
A.  and  B.  Ganglionic  cells. 
C.  Neuroglia  cells. 
D.  Axis  cylinder. 
p.  Protoplasmic  process. 


SPINAL   CORD.  115 

being  processes  rising  out  of  ganglionic  cells.  Neu- 
roglia,  the  nervous  bindweb,  is  as  it  were  the  framework 
which  supports  the  nervous  substance.  The  mem- 
branes which  envelop  the  ganglionic  cells  and  the 

Posterior  Part. 


Anterior  Part. 

SPINAL  CORD.     (Cross-section  after  Deiters.) 
Ra.  Radix  anterior. 
Rp.  Radix  posterior. 
Rip.  Inner  part  of  Radix  posterior. 

Cp.  Commissura  posterior  (gray  substance). 
Caa.  Commissura  anterior. 
Cc.  Central  canal. 


u6 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


sheaths  which  encase  the  nerve-fibres  and  nerve-bun- 
dles are  neuroglia ;  and  besides  these  comparatively 
strong  ligaments  there  are  most  delicate  neuroglia-cells 
which  in  outward  appearance  resemble  heaps  of  burs 
thickly  crowded  about  the  ganglionic  cells  and  nerves, 
and  filling  the  spaces  between  them. 

The  spinal  cord  is  a  long  tube  of  nervous  substance 
supported  by  neuroglia,   having   comparatively  thick 

Anterior  Part. 


Posterior  part. 

TRANSVERSE  SECTION  OF  SPINAL  CORD.     (Reproduced  from  Charcot. 
A'.  Columns  of  Turck  (direct  pyramidal). 

A.  A.  Crossed  pyramidal  tracts. 

B.  B.  Posterior  root  zone  (Burdach's  column). 

C.  C.  Posterior  horns. 

D.  D.  Anterior  horns. 
E.  Column  of  Goll. 

F.  F.  Anterior  root  zone. 

walls.  Its  cavity  has  almost  disappeared.  The  gray 
matter  of  the  spinal  cord  appears  when  viewed  in  a 
horizontal  section  to  be  arranged  in  the  shape  of  two 


SPINAL   CORD. 


117 


crescents  the  anterior  and  posterior  horns.  These  parts 
contain  the  ganglionic  nerve-cells.  The  white  matter 
consists  of  fibres  which  stand  in  connection  with  the 
gray  matter  of  the  horns.  These  fibres  lead  up  to,  and 
arrive  from,  the  different  parts  of  the  brain.  The 
nerve  bundles  coming  out  of  the  spinal  cord  are  called 
radices  or  roots. 


SPINAL  CORD. 

With  anterior  and  posterior  roots.     (After  Edinger.j 

The  nutrition  of  nervous  substance  takes  place  in 
the  direction  of  its  functional  activity.  Accordingly, 
if  we  cut  a  nerve,  it  will  degenerate,  in  case  it  be  mo- 
tory,  below,  in  case  it  be  sensory,  above  the  cut.  With 
the  aid  of  this  law,  named  after  the  English  physiol- 
ogist Waller,  experiments  have  been  made  (especially 
on  dogs)  with  a  view  to  tracing  .the  directions  of  the 
different  nerves.  The  results  of  the  experiments  were 
then  compared  with  and  corroborated  by  pathological 
observations. 


u8 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


The  posterior  roots  have  by  this  method  been  proved 
to  be  sensory.  Peripherally  they  originate  in  the  Pa- 
cinian  corpuscles  which  are  embedded  in  the  mucous 
membrane  of  the  skin.  Shortly  before  entering  the 
spinal  cord  they  pass  through  a  ganglion,  while  the 
anterior  roots,  or  motory  fibres,  terminate  directly  in 
their  respective  muscles. 


'uscle 


THE   MECHANISM    OF    THE   PYRAMIDAL    FIBRES 


SEVERANCE     OF      SPINAL 

CORD  (After  Strumpell). 
The  spinal  cord  was 
cut  in  C.  In  co  n se- 
quence thereof  we  find 
after  the  lapse  of  a  few 
weeks  an  ascending  de- 
generation of  sensory 
nerves (as  seen  in  A  and 
B),  and  a  descending 
degeneration  of  motor 
nerves  (as  seen  in  D  and 
E.) 


All  further  details  are  best  studied  by  an  inspection 
of  the  adjoined  diagrams. 


SPINAL   CORD. 


119 


PYRAMIDAL  BUNDLES  AND  FACIAL  NERVE  (Reproduced  from  Edinger). 

The  diagram  shows  how  different  situations  of  diseased  portions  will  pro- 
duce different  effects. 

A  tumor  in  the  left  capsule  (A)  will  produce  paralysis  in  the  muscles  of  the 
right  portion  of  the  body.  A  tumor  in  B  will  affect  the  facial  nerve  of  the  left 
side  and  some  of  the  muscles  in  the  right  extremities.  A  tumor  in  Cwill  affect 
part  of  the  right  facial  nerve  of  the  right  pyramidal  bundles. 


120 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


CROSS-SECTION  OF 
SPINAL   CORD. 

(After  Erb.) 


DIAGRAM    OF   THE   PYRAMIDAL   BUNDLE. 

(Reproduced  from  Edinger.) 
Showing  the  degeneration  of  the  direct  fibres 
on  the  left,  and  of  the  indirect  on  the  right 
side,  in  consequence   of  a   tumor   in  the  left 
capsula  internet. 

The  adjoined  sections  (After  Erb)  of  the 
spinal  cord  show  the  same  process  viewed 
transversely  in  cervical,  dorsal,  and  lumbar 
parts.  The  topmost  lies  above  the  place  of 
decussation. 


SPINAL  CORD. 


121 


DIAGRAMS  REPRESENTING  FLECHSIG  S  INVESTIGATIONS. 

Showing  the  different  bundles  of  nervous  fibres  in  two  cervical  sections, 
a  pectoral,  and  a  lumbar  section  of  the  spinal  cord. 

1.  Anterior  bundle  of  mixed  nerves,  paths  to  and  from  reflex  centres  in  the 
medulla  oblongata. 

2.  Burdach's  bundles  receive  fibres  from  the  posterior  horns  and  lead 
them  through  the  corpus  restiforme  to  the  vermis  of  the  cerebellum. 

3  and  4.  Lateral  bundles  of  mixed  nerves  being  (like  i)  paths  for  centres 
of  reflex  motions  in  the  medulla  oblongata.  3  and  4  contain  soma  sensory 
fibres,  originating  in  the  posterior  horns. 

5.  Coil's  bundle,  ascending  nerves,  which  can  be  traced  to  the  gray  nuclei 
in  the  funiculus  gracilis  of  the  medulla  oblongata. 

6.  Cerebellar  fibres,  pass  through  the  corpus  restiforme  and  connect  the 
posterior  horns  with  the  cerebellum. 

7.  Pyramidal  bundles.     Indirect  or  decussated  tract. 
7.  i.  Direct  pyramidal  bundles. 

2'.  Anterior  roots. 


122 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


Posterior  Part. 


Anterior  Part. 


TRANSVERSE  SECTION  OF  THE  SPINAL  CORD.    (Reproduced  from  Edinger). 

The  diagram  represents  the  course  of  various  fibres  :  sensory  nerves 
(i,  2,  3,  4)  entering  the  posterior  horns ;  motory  nerves  passing  out  from  the 
anterior  horns  ;  andcommissural  fibres,  bringing  certain  gray  centres  into  rela- 
tion with  one  another. 

The  sensory  cells  are  of  globular,  the  motory  cells  of  pyramidal  form. 
Imbedded  in  the  posterior  horns  is  Clark's  Column  (columna,  vescicularis) 
which  can  be  traced  from  the  lumbar  region  up  to  the  cervical  region  and 
reaches  most  probably  into  the  medulla  oblongata. 

The  mechanism  of  the  sensory  or  posterior  horns  is  apparently  much  more 
complicated  than  that  of  the  anterior  or  motory  horns.  Between  the  gray  cells 
and  the  marginal  layer,  (called  by  Lissauer  zona  terminalis^  there  is  a  gelat- 
inous substance  (substantia  gelatinosa  Roland f).  Moreover  all  the  nervous 
irritations  transmitted  through  sensory  fibres,  have  to  pass  through  a  net-work 
(zona  spongiosa)  in  which  the  connection  between  the  processes  of  the  gray 
cells  and  their  respective  fibres  ceases  to  be  visible.  The  continuation  of 
fibres  to  their  cells  is  solely  inferred  from  processes  of  degeneration. 


MEDULLA  OBLONGATA. 


THE  bulb  or  medulla  oblongata,  the  continuation  of 
the  spinal  cord,  is,  as  the  seat  of  the  most  vital  reflex 
centres,  of  extraordinary  importance.  It  is  here  that, 
with  two  exceptions,  the  most  important  higher  nerves 
originate.  These  two  exceptions  are  the  First  and 
Second  nerves.  The  First  Nerve  (the  olfactory)  stands 
in  close  connection  with  the  cerebrum  or  hemispheric 
part  of  the  brain;  the  Second  or  Optic  Nerve  with  the 
thalamus  opticus  and  the  optic  lobes  (corpora  quadri- 
gemina).  All  other  nerves  that  are  higher  developed 
and  more  differentiated  than  the  spinal  nerves,  have 
their  roots  in  the  medulla. 

The  following  reflex  centres  are  situated  in  the 
medulla,  viz. :  those  that  effect — 

(1)  The  closing  of  the  eye-lids; 

(2)  Sneezing; 

(3)  Coughing; 

(4)  Sucking  and  chewing; 

(5)  Secretion  of  saliva; 

(6)  Swallowing; 

(7)  Vomiting ;  and 

(8)  Contraction  of  the  iris. 

There  is  in  addition  to  these  reflex  centres  asuper- 
ordinated  centre,  which  combines  the  different  centres 
among  themselves  so  as  to  make  complicated  reflex 
motions  possible  without  interference  of  cerebral  ac- 


I24 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN, 


tivity.  This  superordinated  centre  is  situated  in  the 
rabbit  about  6  mm  above  the  calamus  scriptorius.  Its 
presence  is  proved  by  experiments  on  decapitated 
frogs,  lizards,  eels,  and  also  on  mammals  in  which  the 
medulla  has  been  severed  by  dissection  from  the  up- 
per parts  of  the  nervous  system.  (Proved  by  the  ex- 
periments of  Sig.  Mayer,  Luchsinger  andOwsjanikow.) 
The  reflex,  centres  of  breathing  seem  to  be  of  a 
complex  nature.  There  are  two  centres  in  the  medulla, 
one  for  inspiration,  the  other  for  expiration,  and  both 
are  automatic.  They  continue  to  work  even  after  the 
section  of  all  sensory  nerves,  and  depend  upon  the  blood 
circulation  ;  venous  blood  operating  as  an  irritation  for 
breathing. 


\ 


THE    NUCLEI  OF  THE    THIRD   AND    FOt-RTH    OR   OCULOMOTOR  AND   TROCHLEAR 

NERVES.    (Half  diagrammatic,  after  Edinger.) 

Showing  the  complexity  of  the  mechanism  in  the  origin  of  nerves. 
a  and  b  are  two  gray  hook-shaped  nuclei,  the  connection  of  which  with  the 
oculo-motor  is  as  yet  uncertain. 

Flourens  has  localized  the  noeud  vital  or  centre  of 
breathing,  on  both  sides  between  the  nuclei  of  the  acces- 
sorius  and  the  vagus  nerves.  But  further  researches 
have  proved  that  the  mechanism  of  breathing  is  more 
complex  still,  for  there  are  some  subordinated  spinal 
centres  which  even  after  the  section  of  the  medulla 


MEDULLA   OBLONGATA.  125 

keep  up  certain  motions  in  the  thorax.  (Proved  by  Bra- 
chet,  Lautenbach,  Langendorff,  and  Landois.)  Be: 
sides,  some  superordinated  centres  have  been  dis- 
covered in  the  posterior  hill  of  the  corpora  quadrige- 
mina  (by  Martin  and  Booker)  and  in  the  thalamus  on 
the  bottom  of  the  third  ventricle  (by  Christiani). 

The  action  of  the  heart  is  regulated  chiefly  through 
the  nervus  vagus  and  nervus  sympathicus.  There  are 
inhibitory  as  well  as  accelerating  fibres.  An  irritation 
of  the  vagus  produces  a  decrease  of  the  activity  of  the 
heart,  while  an  irritation  of  the  first  pectoral  sympa- 
thetic ganglion  produces  an  acceleration.  This  part  of 
the  nerve  was  accordingly  called  Nervus  accelerans 
cordis. 

The  reflex  motions  of  the  medulla  ob- 
longata  may,  but  need  not  be  connected 
with  consciousness ;  they  are  of  a  higher 
and  more  complex  order  than  the  direct  ISN< 
reflex  motions  of  a  simple  ganglionic  me- 
chanism and  are  represented  in  the  -ad- 
joined diagram.  Sensory  impressions  (S7)  sn 
are  received  in  the  Pacinian  corpuscles  at  the  periph- 
eral terminus  of  the  sensory  nerve.  They  are  trans- 
mitted through  the  spinal  ganglion  to  the  gray  matter 
of  the  posterior  horns  (/67V)  and  thence  in  the  as- 
cending spinal  fibres  to  their  respective  centres  in  the 
medulla  oblongata  (61).  The  motory  reflex  action  starts 
in  the  medullary  reflex  centre  (in  W\  is  transmitted 
through  descending  nerves  to  the  anterior  horns 
(IMN)  and  thence  through  the  anterior  roots  to  their 
respective  muscles  (MM). 

The  medulla  oblongata  may  be  considered  as  the 
seat  of  the  vegetative  soul ;  since  a  destruction  of  its 


126 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


BULB  OR  MEDULLA  OBLONGATA.     (Reproduced  from  Landois). 
c.  Conarium  or  pineal  gland. 

pv.  Pulvinaror  cushion,  i.  e.,  lower  part  of  thalamus  opticus. 
a  and/.  Four  hills  (Corpora  Quadrigemina).    a.  Anterior  hill.   /.  Posterior 
hill. 

ba.  Brachium  conjunctivum  anticum,  i.  e.,  tracts  of  nerve-fibres  leading 
to  the" anterior  hill. 


MEDULLA   OBLONGATA.  127 


b p.  Brachium  conjunctivum  posticum,  i.  e.,  tracts  of  nerve-fibres  lead- 
ing to  the  posterior  hill. 

pc.  Pedunculus  Cerebri,  nerve-tracts  to  the  hemispheres. 
There  are  three  pairs  of  Peduncles  on  which  the  small  brain  hangs  : 
ad  p.  Ad  pontem.     Connection  with  the  bridge. 

ad  m.  Ad  medullam  oblongatam.  Connection  with  the  Medulla  oblongata, 
and  further  down  with  the  spinal  cord. 

adq.  Ad  corpora  quadrigemina.     Connection  with  the  posterior  hill. 
I  c.  Locus  coaruleus,  bluish  spot. 
cl.  Clava,  a  club-shaped  bundle. 

f.  c.  Funiculus  cuneiformis,  being   a  part  of  a  nerve-bundle  called  "  the 
Rope  "  or  corpus  restiforme. 

f.  g.  Funiculus  gracilis,  the  continuation  of  the  clava. 
e  t.  Eminentia  teres.    A  tubercle  covering  the  nuclei  5,  6,  7. 

t.  Funiculus  teres. 
n  a.  Nucleus  accessorius. 

ob.  Obex.    The  bolt,  crescent-shaped  oblique  fibres. 
a  c.  Ala  cinerea,  a  layer  of  gray  substance  of  triangular  shape.     This 
portion  of  the  fourth  ventricle  is  called  calamus  scriptorius  from   its  fancied 
resemblance  to  a  pen. 

The  Roman  numbers  represent  the  nerves  and  the  Arabian  numbers  their 
respective  nuclei  in  the  deeper  layers  of  the  medulla,  where  the  nerves 
originate. 

The  first  nerve  is  the  olfactory.  It  enters  the  hemispheric  part  of  the 
brain  through  several  roots. 

The  second  nerve  is  the  Optic  nerve  which  stands  in  connection  with  the 
thalamus  opticus  and  the  Four  hills. 

These  two  nerves  do  not  appear  in  the  adjoined  figure. 

3.  Nucleus  of  the  oculo-motor  or  third  nerve  is  the  main  source  of  motor 
innervation  in  the  most  important  muscles  of  the  eye.     The  nerve  passes  to 
the  front  between  the  two  crura  ;  accordingly  the  nerve  (///)  is  not  visible  in 
the  adjoined  cut.     Other  ocular  nerves  are  the  fourth  and  the  sixth. 

4.  IV.  Trochlear  nucleus  and  nerve.   A  motory  nerve  going  to  the  trochlea, 
the  hollow  of  the  eye  innervating  the  muscle  which  makes  the  eye  roll. 

5.  V.  Trigeminus  nuclei  and  nerve.     A  nerve  rising  from  two  nuclei  and 
dividing  into  three  branches,  going  to  the  face.    It  serves  motory  impulses  as 
well  as  for  the  reception  of  sensory  impressions. 

6.  Abducens  nucleus.     The  nerve,  because  passing  out  in  front,   like  the 
third  nerve,  is  not  visible  in  the  cut.     It  is  a  motory  nerve  and  innervates  the 
muscle  that  moves  the  eye  toward  the  side. 

7.  VII.  Facial  nerve.     A  motor  nerve  for  the  muscles  of  the  face. 

8.  VIII.  Acusticus  nucleus  and  nerve,  the  sensory  nerve  of  hearing. 

9.  IX.  Glossopharyngeal  nucleus  and  nerve,  a  sensory  nerve,  receiving 
mainly  the  impressions  of  taste. 

10.  X.  Vagus  nucleus  and  nerve,  a  mixed  nerve  of  motor  and  sensory 
fibres  innervating  the  heart  and  the  lungs. 

11.  XI.  Accessory  nucleus  and  nerve.   A  nerve,  communicating  with  other 
nerves,  having  mainly  a  motory  character. 

12.  XII.  "Hypoglossus  nucleus  and  nerve.   The  motor  nerve  for  the  tongue, 
being  of  special  importance  in  man  because  it  regulates  the  mechanism  of 
speech. 


128  THE  SOUL  OF  MAtf. 

most  important  centres  will  always  cause  instantaneous 
death. 

The  medulla  oblongata  possesses  to  some  degree  the 
faculty  of  adaptation  to  circumstances  as  has  been 
proved  by  the  famous  frog-experiment.  A  decapitated 
frog  in  which  the  spinal  cord  and  medulla  oblongata  are 
preserved,  all  higher  centres  being  severed,  will  scratch 
itself  with  its  right  leg,  if  irritated  on  the  right  side  of 
its  back.  When  the  right  leg  is  amputated,  it  will 
after  a  few  vain  attempts  with  the  stump,  try  to  remove 
the  irritant  by  means  of  its  left  leg. 

This  experiment  proves  that  the  soul  does  not  dwell 
in  one  part  of  the  nervous  system  alone  ;  but  that  every 
part  is  endowed  with  soul-life.  Every  ganglion  is  a 
seat  of  soul-life.  The  activity  of  every  reflex  centre 
is  no  mere  physiological  phenomenon.  The  lowest 
reflex  centres  of  irritable  substance  possess  the  power 
of  adaptation  to  circumstances  ;  the  medulla  oblongata 
being  a  higher,  a  superordinated  and  more  complex 
centre,  possesses  this  in  a  greater  degree  than  simple 
ganglions.  Yet  there  is  one  further  step  needed  for 
changing  irritability  into  distinct  and  definite  feeling. 
This  is  created  through  the  possibility  of  comparing 
the  present  irritation  with  the  memories  of  former  irri- 
tations— not  only  of  the  same  kind,  but  of  all  kinds. 
Such  a  possibility  is  established  in  the  brain,  which  is 
the  coordinative  organ  of  soul-activity. 

The  brain  is  a  storehouse  of  all  kinds  of  memories. 
All  irritations  received  in  the  peripheral  sense-organs 
are,  as  it  were  (to  use  Meynert's  expression)  projected 
into  the  hemispheres.  There  they  leave  traces  or  ves- 
tiges :  every  different  impression  leaves  a  vestige  of  its 
own ;  and  these  vestiges  are  living  memories,  pictures 
of  impressions,  i.  e.,  structures  of  a  special  form  pro- 


MEDULLA   OBLONGATA.  129 

duced  through  irritations  of  a  special  form.  These 
memories  are  so  to  say  deposited  in  the  brain  and 
represent  the  outside  objects  through  contact  with 
which  they  have  been  produced.  Being  representative 
of  things  or  of  natural  phenomena  they  are  symbols  of 
the  surrounding  world  and  make  cognition  possible. 
The  mechanism  of  the  brain  is  so  arranged  that  all 
the  different  memories  are  properly  interconnected 
thus  making  a  comparison  among  ,them  easily  pos- 
sible. 


CEREBELLUM  AND  PONS. 


THE  Small  Brain  (or  Cerebellum)  together  with  the 
Bridge  {Pons  Varolit}  encircles  the  medulla  oblongata 
like  a  thick  ring,  being  thickest  at  the  posterior  part. 
The  Pons  overarches,  bridge-like  (hence  its  name), 
the  medulla  in  front.  It  receives  in  the  nuclei  of  gray 
substance  embedded  in  its  fibres,  many  nerves  from 
the  pyramidal  tracts  and  thus  forms  an  intermediate 
station  between  the  cerebrum  and  the  lower  motory 
mechanism. 

Some  of  the  nerves  that  originate  here  stand  in 
relation  to  the  Pons.  Thus,  the  fifth  nerve  (trigemi- 
nus)  breaks  with  its  motory  as  well  as  sensory  fibres 
through  the  Pons  ;  and  a  disease  in  either  arch  of  the 
Pons  always  affects  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  the  sen- 
sibility and  motility  of  the  opposite  part  of  the  body. 

Between  the  two  lobes  of  the  Cerebellum  there  is  a 
narrow  central  portion  which,  because  of  its  worm-like 
appearance,  is  called  vermis  or  worm.  The  upper 
worm  culminates  in  the  monticulus  (mountain),  the 
lower  worm  in  the  uvula  (or  grape). 

The  names  as  well  as  structures  of  the  different 
parts  of  the  Small  Brain  and  the  relations  of  the  Pons 
may  be  studied  in  the  adjoined  diagrams. 


The  functions  of  the  different   parts  of  the  Cere- 
bellum  are  little   explored.     We   know  however  that 


CEREBELLUM  AND  PONS.  131 

irritations  produce  vertigo  and  rolling  motions.  Ani- 
mals in  which  the  Cerebellum  is  injured,  show  an  un- 
certainty in  their  movements  similar  to  that  observable 
in  a  drunkard.  The  adjoined  pictures  (reproduced 
from  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica)  show  two  pigeons; 


PIGEON    WHOSE    CEREBELLUM    IS    REMOVED. 


PIGEON    WHOSE    HEMISPHERES    ARE    REMOVED. 


from  the  one  the  Small  Brain  and  from  the  other  the 
Hemispheres  have  been  removed.  The  former  shows 
all  signs  of  intelligence  :  its  motor  apparatus  are  in  all 
their  details  uninjured  ;  yet  the  power  of  properly  co- 
ordinating the  various  motions  is  entirely  gone.  Thus 
the  pigeon  lies  helplessly  sprawled  on  the  ground. 
The  other  pigeon  stands  firmly  on  its  feet  \  it  flies  if 
thrown  into  the  air  ;  it  walks  steadily  if  through  some 


132  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


CEREBELLUM.     DORSAL  VIEW.     (After  Sappey.) 

1.  Bottom  of  Fourth  Ventricle,  the  roof  of  which  is  formed  by  the  cere- 
bellum. 

2.  Striae  acusticae,  the  roots  of  the  auditory  nerve.  • 

3.  Left  lower  Peduncle,  rising  from  the  medulla,    and    overlapping  in 
its  further  progress  the  upper  peduncle,  as  seen  on  the  right  side. 

4.  Clavae  funiculi  gracilis,  the  Clubs  ;  the  swellings  of  the  clavae  are 
caused  through  nuclei  imbedded  in  their  fibres. 

5.  Upper  Peduncles,  connecting  the  cerebellum  through  the  red  nucleus 
with  the  posterior  hill,  the  thalamus,  and  most   likely  also  with  the  hemis- 
pheres. 

6.  Laqueus  or  fillet,  a  tract  of  nervous  fibres,  originating  on  the  dorsal  side 
below  the  Four  Hills.     It  passes  slantingly  to  a  lower  part  of  the  ventral  side. 
The  fillet  consists  of  fibres  from  the  auditory  nerve,  the  trigeminus  and  the 
spinal  cord,  the  latter  part  being  motory.     The  others  connect  the  activity  of 
their  respective  nerves  with  the  thalamic  region. 

7.  Brachia  ad  pontem,  the  thickest  among  the  three  pairs  of  bands  which 
pass  into  the  cerebellum.     It  connects  the  Small  Brain  with  the  Bridge. 

The  dotted  line  at  the  top  represents  the  corpora  quadrigemina  or  Four 
Hills. 

The  left  and  middle  part  of  the  cerebellum  is  cut  off.  The  gray  and  white 
substance  in  the  interior  of  the  cerebellum  is  so  arranged  as  to  produce  the 
figure  of  a  tree,  called  arbor  vitae,  the  tree  of  life. 


CEREBELLUM  A.VD  PONS. 


133 


irritation  it  is  made  to  move  ;  in  a  word  the  power  of 
co-ordinating  the  most  complex  motions  is  preserved. 
Yet  all  movements  are  executed  apparently  without 
consciousness  and  without  the  faintest  sign  of  intelli- 
gence. 


134 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


VIII 


PONS    AND    ITS    RELATIONS. 

The  Roman  numbers  indicate  the  nerves  in  their  order. 
The  fifth  nerve  (trigeminus)  divides  in  the  Gasserian  ganglion  (marked  x) 
into  three  sensory  branches  : 

1.  The  ophthalmic  branch  ; 

2.  The  supra-maxillary  branch  ; 
-1    3.  The  infra-maxillary  branch  ; 

V  m.  Motory  branch  of  the  fifth  nerve. 


CEREBELLUM  AND  PONS.  135 

C  Lobes  of  the  cerebrum.     Hemispheric  region. 

The  gray  layer  between  the  roots  into  which  the  first  (olfactory)  nerve 
divides  is  called  substantia perforata  (marked  x  x). 

Th.    Thalamus  opticus. 

h.  Hypophysis.  Here  the  optic  nerve  decussates.  Its  decussaticui  is  called 
chiasma,  having  the  shape  of  a  Greek  Chi,  %. 

a.  Corpora  candicantia  or  mammillaria. 

/.  Corpus  geniculatum  interius. 

e.  Corpus  geniculatum  exterius,  being  the  ganglions  of  the  second,  or  optic 
nerve.  The  optic  nerve  divides  into  two  parts,  the  exterior  stands  in  close 
connection  through  the  corpus  geniculatum  exterius  with  the  thalamus  and 
passes  into  the  anterior  Hill  of  the  corpora  quadrigemina.  The  interior  passes 
into  the  posterior  Hill. 

t  c.  Tuber  cinereum. 

P.  Peduncles  of  the  brain  or  crura  cerebri. 

P.  V.  Pons  Varolii. 

pa.  Anterior  pyramid  of  medulla.  The  decussation  of  the  pyramidal 
tracts  below  the  pyramids  is  plainly  visible. 

o.  Olivary  body. 

C.  ff.  First  cervical  nerve. 

c.  I.  Lateral  column  of  spinal  cord. 

c.  a.  Anterior  column. 

C.  e.  Lobus  lunatus  anterior  of  cerebellum. 

C.  e'.  Digastric  lobe  of  cerebellum. 
Jl.  Flocculus  or  tuft,  a  small  lobe  of  cerebellum. 


CEREBELLUM.     Superficial  view  from  the  dorsal  side.     (Edinger.; 


"36 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


CEREBELLUM.  Superficial  view  from  the  ventral  side.     (Edinger.) 


DIAGRAMMATIC    SECTION    THROUGH    BRIDGE    AND    SMALL    BRAIN. 

(Reproduced   from  "Edinger.) 

It  represents  the  most  important  results  obtained  by  Benedict  Stilling 
with  regard  to  the  paths  of  the  various  fibres  in  the  cerebellum.  The  me- 
dulla has  been  severed  and  pulled  out  of  place  in  order  to  show  the  Bridge  and 
Small  Brain  at  once.  Thus  the  upper  peduncles  (brachia  cerebelli  anteriora) 
appear  in  the  wrong  place.  They  must  be  conceived  as  belonging  much  lower. 
They  enter  the  cerebellum  at  the  hole  in  the  middle.  (Compare  for  a  cor- 
rection of  this  displacement  the  other  drawings  of  the  cerebellum.)  Little 
additional  knowledge  upon  this  subject  has  been  gained  since  Stilling.  . 


THE  THALAMIC  REGION  OF  THE  BRAIN. 


THE  upward  continuations  of  the  medulla  are 
called  the  Crura  (singular  crus\  the  legs  of  the 
brain.  They  are  the  stems  on  which  the  Brain 
stands.  These  Crura  consist  on  each  side  of  two 
parts  :  the  front  part  shows  coarse  longitudinal  fibres 
emerging  from  the  upper  margin  of  the  Bridge,  called 
crusta  (the  crust)  ;  the  hind  part,  covering  the  crusta, 
is  called  tegmentum,  (German  Haube,  cover).  Between 
both,  on  the  upper  surface  of  the  crusta,  where  the 
tegmentum  covers  it,  is  seen  a  dark  portion,  called 
locus  niger  (the  black  spot). 

The  dorsal  part  of  the  tegmentum  shows  a  narrow 
tunnel  called  aquaductus  Sylvii,  which  connects  the 
third  and  fourth  ventricles.  The  upper  roof  of  the 
aquaduct  is  overarched  by  the  two  fillets,  which  here 
decussate,  and  upon  which  the  Four  Hills  rise. 

Out  of  the  tegmentum  on  each  side  a  thick  gang- 
lion grows,  called  thalamus  opticus,  the  lower  part  of 
which  is  the  cushion  or  pulvinar.  The  Thalamus  re- 
ceives ascending  fibres  not  only  from  the  tegmentum 
but  also  from  other  sources.  Through  the  external 
optic  ganglion  (corpus  geniculatum  exterius),  it  stands 
in  connection  with  the  optic  nerve ;  through  the 
taenia  semicircularis  with  the  olfactory  j  and  through 
the  fillet  (laqueus},  with  the  auditory  nerve. 


i38 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


The  anterior  two  of  the  Four  Hills  are  in  some 
way  related  with  vision  as  a  sensory  process  ;  while 
the  posterior  hills  exercise  a  decided  influence  upon 
the  motory  actions  of  the  eyes.  Animals  in  whom  all 
the  parts  down  as  far  as  the  apparatus  of  the  Four 
Hills  have  been  removed,  exhibit  not  only  all  the  usual 
reflex  motions  against  light  (e.  g.,  contraction  of  the 
iris),  but  are  also  able  to  regulate  other  motions  by 
what  they  see.  When  trying  to  escape  they  avoid  ob- 


DIAGRAM    SHOWING    THE    RELATIONS    OF    CEREBELLUM    AND    PONS    TO    THE 
THALAMIC    REGION. 

The  stem  of  the  brain  (or  crus  cerebri}  consists  of  the  crusta  which  lies  in 
front,  and  the  tegmentum  which  covers  the  crusta. 

The  optic  nerve  divides  into  two  branches.  The  superior  branch  passes 
into  the  corpus  geniculatum  exterius  (the  external  optic  ganglion)  which  stands 
in  connection  with  the  thalamus — this  part  of  the  thalamus  is  called  pulvinar 
(cushion) — and  passes  into  the  Anterior  Hill  (A)  of  the  corpora  quadrigemina. 
The  lower  branch  passes  through  the  corpus  geniculatitin  inter ius  into  the 
Posterior  Hill  (P). 

The  fillet  (laqueus)  consists  of  three  nerve  bundles  that  connect  the  Four 
Hills  and  perhaps  also  the  thalamus  with  (i)  motory  fibres  of  the  spinal  cord, 
(2)  Jhe  trigeminus,  and  (3)  the  auditory  nuclei.  Adecussation  of  the  fibres  of 
the  fillet  takes  place  under  the  Four  Hills. 


THALAMIC  REGION.  139 

stacles  placed  in  their  way,  they  follow  with  their  head 
the  motions  of  a  light,  etc.  Thus  it  appears  that  the 
Four  Hills,  independently  of  the  higher  brain-organs 
(especially  the  Striped  Body  and  the  Hemispheres), 
exercise  some  regulative  influence  upon  ocular  and 
other  muscular  motions. 

According  to  Dr.  Luys's  hypothesis,  the  Thalamus 
ought  to  be  considered  as  a  condenser  of  sensory  im- 
pressions, and  the  Striped  Body  (corpus  striatum],  a 
condenser  of  motory  impulses.  This,  however,  agrees 
neither  with  anatomical  facts  nor  with  pathological 
and  experimental  observations.  It  is  irreconcilable  with 
the  results  of  Meynert's  investigations.  ' '  Neither  can, " 
says  Wundt,  "  the  connection  of  all  sensory  tracts 
with  the  Thalamus  be  proved,  nor,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  its  connection  with  motor  tracts  to  be  doubted." 
The  fillet  (laqueus,  Germ.  Schleife)  consists  of  several 
tracts  among  which  there  are  motor  nerves  entering 
in  their  peripheral  course  the  spinal  cord. 

Prof.  Schiff  proved  by  experiment  that  if  in  an 
animal  one  Thalamus  is  cut  through,  a  disturbance 
will  be  observed  in  the  direction  of  the  animal's  walk 
and  in  the  position  of  its  legs.  Instead  of  walking  on 
in  a  straight  line,  it  moves  in  a  circle.  If  the  section  is 
made  through  the  posterior  third  of  the  Thalamus,  the 
animal  will  turn  towards  the  side  of  the  non- injured  half 
of  the  brain  ;  if  it  be  further  in  front,  it  will  turn  in  the 
opposite  direction.  The  French  call  these  strange  dis- 
turbances "  mouvements  de  manege,"  because  they  are 
like  the  epicyclical  maneuvers  of  horses  in  circuses. 

These  motions  are  determined  by  an  abnormal 
position  of  the  body,  as  can  be  observed  even  when 
the  animal  is  at  rest.  If  the  section  is  made  through 
the  hind  part  of  one  Thalamus,  the  animal  turns  its  fore- 


140 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


feet  round  towards  the  side  in  which  the  injury  has 
been  made,  while  neck  and  vertebral  column  are 
turned  in  the  opposite  direction.  "An  animal"  (says 


HORIZONTAL  SECTION  OF  THE  BRAIN,  THROUGH  THALAMUS  AND  CORPUS  STRIATUM, 
SLANTING   DOWN   ON    BOTH  SIDES  FROM  THE    MEDIAN  LINE.       (After  Edinger.) 

The  nucleus  caudatus  is  on  both  sides  cut  in  two  places.  The  thicker 
section,  joining  the  two  parts  seen  in  the  cut,  is  its  head,  the  smal'er  its  tail. 
The  head  borders  in  front  on  the  descending  part  of  the  corpus  callosum 
(Balkeri).  Its  tapering  body  stretches  along  the  thalamus,  so  as  to  separate 
the  concave  surface  of  the  thalamus  from  the  corona  radiata. 

The  lenticular  body  consists  of  three  stripes,  the  outer  one  being  the  shell 
or  putamen,  the  two  inner  ones  the  globus  pallidus. 

The  lenticular  body  and  nucleus  caudatus  constitute  the  Striped  Body. 

A  bundle  of  radiating  fibres,  passing  to  the  occipital  lobe,  are  the  paths  of 
the  optic  centre.  The  claustrum  or  Wall  is  a  gray  layer  of  unknown  functions 
situated  underneath  the  insula. 


THALAMIC  REGION.  141 

Wuhdt,  from  whom  this  account  is  taken)  "will  nat- 
urally move  in  the  indicated  abnormal  direction,  if  it 
gives  the  same  quantity  of  innervation  to  the  intended 
movements  as  before,  in  a  similar  way  as  a  ship  will 
be  thrown  out  of  a  straight  course  by  a  turn  of  the 
rudder."  If  the  anterior  part  of  the  Thalamus  be  in- 
jured, the  neck  and  feet  take  a  position  just  in  the 
inverse  direction  ;  hence  the  inverse  movement. 

The  Thalamus,  accordingly,  is  a  reflex  centre  that 
controls  or  influences  certain  motor  nerves ;  and  we  con- 
sider it  as  the  organ  of  co-ordination  for  the  nervous 
tracts  of  the  tegmentum.  An  animal  whose  Hemispheres 
and  Striped  Body  are  removed,  is  able  to  execute  all 
motions  however  complex;  a  fact  which  ought  to  be 
impossible  according  to  Dr.  Luys's  theory. 

Dr.  Luys,  it  seems,  was  induced  to  propound  this 
hypothesis  because  lesions  of  the  Thalamus,  although 
they  cause  disturbances,  do  not  produce  any  paralysis. 
This,  however,  will  find  a  sufficient  explanation,  if  we 
consider  that,  in  the  extremely  complex  brain  mechan- 
ism, there  are  other  channels  which  will  send  sensory 
impressions  to  the  hemispheres  even  if  the  co-ordinative 
centre  of  the  tegmentum  and  other  sensory  nerves  be 
excluded.  An  injury  to  the  Thalamus  may  produce 
disturbances,  as  in  the  experiments  above  described. 
Yet  these  disturbances  can  and  indeed  they  will  be 
corrected  after  some  time  if  but  the  other  tracts  that 
connect  the  hemispheres  with  the  sensory  organs  re- 
main uninjured  ;  and  thus  the  symptoms  will  eventually 
disappear.  The  rotatory  motions  (nwuvements  de  ma- 
ncge}  will  cease  to  be  noticeable  within  six  weeks, 
and  this  fact,  it  seems  to  me,  corroborates  our  suppo- 
sition that  the  Thalamus  is  an  organ  of  co-ordination 
inserted  between  the  tracts  of  the  tegmentum  and 


I42  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  optic  nerve  on  the  one  side  and  the  hemispheres 
on  the  other.  Its  function,  however,  can  be  per- 
formed by  the  Hemispheres  as  well — perhaps  with  a 
greater  effort  of  conscious  attention — and  a  patient, 
suffering  from  a  lesion  in  the  Thalamus  may  become 
accustomed  to  it. 

This  would  explain  why  the  pathological  reports  of 
post  mortem  examinations  in  which  a  degeneration  of 
the  Thalamus  has  been  proved,  throw  little,  if  any, 
light,  upon  the  subject. 

For  special  students  of  physiology,  the  following 
passage,  quoted  from  Dr.  C.  Wernicke  (Lehrbuch  der 
Gehirnkrankheiten  /,  p.  191),  may  be  of  interest  : 

"  In  the  case  of  a  girl  of  fourteen  years,  a  tuberculous  subject, 
Meynert  observed  a  pathological  condition  of  the  head,  spinal 
column,  and  upper  extremities,  lasting  seven  weeks,  which  he 
thought  analogous  to  the  condition  produced  by  Schiff's  section  of 
the  posterior  part  of  the  left  thalamus  in  animals.  His  diagnosis 
was  accordingly,  degeneration  of  the  left  thalamus.  The  head  and 
spinal  column  were  turned  to  the  right,  the  head  having  also  a 
downward  inclination,  and  there  was  a  slight  curvature  of  the 
spine  pointing  to  the  right  side  ;  the  right  arm  was  flexed  and  the 
left  kept  extended.  If  by  manipulation  the  opposite  movement 
was  executed,  considerable  resistance  was  experienced.  After- 
wards the  left  arm  was  also  flexed  but  now  offered  little  resistance 
to  extension. 

' '  The  posture  of  this  girl,  whose  mind  was  previously  affected, 
seemed  to  rest  on  fixed  ideas  ;  but  it  could  be  voluntarily  given  up, 
upon  the  occasion  of  rare  exercises  of  will  power  to  which  she 
could  be  brought.  Consequently  there  was  no  paralysis. 

"  The  state  of  affairs  experimentally  produced  by  Schiff  and 
which  he  has  attributed  to  paralysis,  Meynert  did  not  conceive  as 
such.  For  a  rabbit  prepared  in  this  way  was,  as  Schiff  reports, 
still  able  to  wipe  mustard  from  its  nose,  with  the  paw  supposed  to 
be  paralyzed.  Moreover  the  same  change  of  position  took  place 
in  animals  also,  the  hemispheres  of  which  Schiff  had  previously 
removed.  According  to  Schiff's  own  view  such  animals  are  not 
capable  of  voluntary  motion  but  only  of  reflex  motions.  Under 


THALAMIC  REGION.  143 

these  circumstances,  the  paralysis  of  flexors  or  extensors  could  not 
possibly  make  the  antagonistic  groups  predominant.  Consequently 
some  other  explanation  of  this  change  of  position  was  necessary, 
and  Meynert  finds  it  in  the  supposition  of  an  interruption  of  cer- 
tain paths  of  muscular  sensation.  That  such  paths  must  be  con- 
tained in  the  thalamus,  respectively  in  the  Four  Hills,  is  proved 
by  the  experiments  of  Goltz.  Frogs  whose  hemispheres  are  re- 
moved, and  in  whom  the  mentioned  ganglia  are  preserved  show  a 
wonderful  adaptation  for  restoring  the  disturbed  equipoise,  if  the 
place  on  which  they  sit  is  put  out  of  its  equilibrium.  In  frogs 
whose  hemispheres  are  intact,  the  thalamus  must  accordingly  be  a 
centre  of  the  muscular  sensation  in  which  this  disturbance  takes 
p!ace. 

"A  lesion  of  the  thalamus  as  produced  in  the  experiments  of 
Schiff,  according  to  this  conception,  leads  consciousness  astray 
concerning  the  position  of  the  body.  This  girl  had  no  muscular 
sensation  in  certain  muscular  regions,  and  she  tried  to  attain  it, 
through  forced  contraction  of  these  very  same  muscles,  the  flexors 
of  the  right,  and  the  extensors  of  the  left  arm.  In  the  left  thala- 
mus accordingly,  the  flexors  must  decussate,  whilst  the  extensors 
do  not.  The  former  would  correspond  to  the  roots  of  the  tegmen- 
tum,  decussating  in  the  thalamus  through  the  posterior  commis- 
sure, the  latter  to  the  lamina  medullares,  which  do  not  decussate. 
If  the  degeneration  extends  to  the  left  side,  the  flexors  of  the  left 
arm  are  attacked  also  ;  in  that  case  the  muscular  sensation  of  both 
extensors  and  flexors  was  missing.  Hence  the  rigidity  of  the  arm 
was  changed  during  the  progress  of  the  disease  to  a  loose  con- 
dition of  flexion  easily  overcome. 

The  Four  Hills  and  the  Thalami  are  the  most  im- 
portant parts  of  the  thalamic  region,  yet  there  are  a 
few  more  structures  which  deserve  at  least  a  passing 
mention. 

Between  the  Thalami  and  the  Four  Hills  on  the  dor- 
sal side  appears  a  small  body  shaped  like  a  pine-cone, 
which  is  called  epiphysis  or  pineal  (i.  e.  pine-cone- 
shaped)  gland.  This  pineal  gland  (conarium,  Germ. 
Ztrbef)  is  interesting  not  only  because,  being  the  only 
part  of  the  brain  that  appeared  single,  the  philoso- 


i44  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

pher  Descartes  considered  it  as  the  seat  of  the  soul,  but 
also  because  later  researches  have  proved  it  to  be 
a  rudimentary  eye. 

The  pineal  gland  is  the  larger,  the  lower  an  an- 
imal ranks  in  the  scale  of  evolution  ;  it  corresponds  in 
certain  amphibia  to  an  aperture  in  the  skull,  and  a 
kind  of  lizard  has  been  discovered  in  which  under  the 
skin  the  rudimentary  eye  is  still  preserved. 

This  eye  in  the  back  part  of  the  head  must  have 
been  very  useful  when  our  ancestors  still  lived  in  the 
depths  of  the  sea.  Enemies  who  approached  from 
behind  could  be  discovered  before  it  was  too  late. 
But  when  our  ancestors  changed  their  element  and 
lived  on  the  shore,  they  had  to  expose  their  third  eye 
so  much  to  the  burning  rays  of  the  sun,  that  they  kept 
it  shut  for  ever.  And  it  became  gradually  a  rudi- 
mentary organ. 

There  is  another  body  hanging  on  the  ventral  part 
of  the  brain,  called  hypophysis  or  pituitary  body.  It 
is  a  slimy  mass  of  unknown  functions.  One  thing 
about  it  is  certain,  namely,  that  it  does  not  belong  to 
the  brain  ;  it  does  not  consist  of  nervous  substance. 
In  some  of  the  lower  animals  (viz.,  in  the  vertebrates 
that  are  not  mammals)  it  lies  much  lower  and  stands 
in  no  connection  with  the  brain  whatever.  According 
to  the  investigations  lately  made  byFleschand  Dosto- 
jewsky,  this  body  is  similar  in  structure  to  some  ex- 
tremely active  glands  and  thus  it  appears  probable 
that  it  is  not  a  rudimentary  organ  like  the  pineal  gland, 
but  still  serves  some  physiological  function. 

The  hollow  space  between  the  Thalami  is  called  the 
third  ventricle,  the  walls  of  which  are  formed  by 
layers  of  gray  substance.  The  ventricle  at  the  bottom 
assumes  the  shape  of  a  small  funnel,  called  infundi- 


THALAM1C  REGION.  145 

bulum.  The  surrounding  gray  mass  of  the  Infundi- 
bulum  is  called  from  its  ash-gray  color  tuber  cinereum. 

The  infundibulum,  according  toGaskell,  most  likely 
represents  the  primitive  terminal  mouth  of  the  ar- 
chaic intestinal  tube.  In  mammals  the  hypophysis  is 
coalesced  with  the  tuber  cinereum. 

Behind  the  hypophysis  on  the  ventral  side,  at  the 
base  of  the  brain,  exactly  where  the  Crura  of  the  brain 
pass  upwards,  we  find  two  white  little  elevations,  one 
on  each  side,  called  corpora  candicantia,  the  shining 
bodies,  or  corpora  mammillaria,  the  breast-like  bodies. 
These  white  little  mountains  are  ganglionic  masses 
covered  with  white  layers.  They  contain  several 
ganglionic  centres,  receiving  nerve  bundles  from  dif- 
ferent directions.  These  bundles  are  : 

1.  The  bundle  of  Vic  d'Azyr,  connecting  the  in- 
terior of  the  thalamus  with  the  corpora  candicantia. 

2.  The  fibres  of  the  tegmentum,  coming  from  the 
corpora  quadrigemina  and  passing  through  the  red 
nucleus  (nucleus  ruber}  in  the  subthalamic  region. 

3.  Pedunculus  corporis   mammillaris,    connecting 
the  medulla  oblongata  with  the  corpus  mammillare. 

The  fibres  of  the  fornix  here  rise  upwards  and 
then  turn  backwards  and  extend  behind  the  thala- 
mus so  as  to  form  an  overarching  vault ;  they  connect 
the  thalamus  with  the  hippocampus,  i.  e. ,  the  mar- 
ginal convolution  of  the  hemispheres  at  the  base  of 
the  brain. 

Another  connection  of  the  Thalamus  with  the  sub- 
thalamic region  is  the  fasciculus  retroflexus,  also  called 
Meynert's  bundle,  which  connects  a  small  ganglion, 
the  ganglion  habenulae  in  the  Thalamus  with  the  gang- 
lion interpedunculare.  A  decussation  of  this  fascicle 


146 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


takes  place  shortly  above  the  ganglion  interpeduncu- 
lare. 


THE  THALAMUS  AND  ITS  RELATIONS.     (After  Edinger.) 

The  prefixed  diagram  explains  the  situation  better 
than  words.  Formerly  it  was  believed  that  the  bun- 
dle of  Vic  d'Azyr  was  the  beginning  of  the  fornix  de- 
scending from  the  thalamus  and  rising  again  into  the 
corpus  mammillare.  Gudden's  experiments  have  dis- 
proved this  view  and  show  that  the  bundle  of  Vic 
d'Azyr  does  not  descend  but  rises  into  the  thalamus. 

The  region  around  the  red  nucleus  being  situated 
underneath  the  thalamus  is  called  the  subthalamic 
region.  It  is  a  province  of  the  brain,  which  being  the 
meeting  place  of  many  intersecting  tracts  exhibits  very 
complicated  conditions.  It  is  a  labyrinth  of  interla- 
cing fibres,  some  rising  out  of  the  nucleus  restiformis, 
some  out  of  the  capsula  interna,  and  some  out  of  the 
thalamus.  They  here  and  there  gather  into  small 
centres  of  gray  substance,  the  import  of  which  is  but 
little  known. 


THALAMIC  REGION. 


PCI 


SAGITTAL   SECTION  OF  THIRD   AND    FOURTH  VENTRICLES.      (After  Reichert) 

Th.  Thalamus  opticus. 

P.  Pineal  gland  (conarium.) 

Q.  Corpora  quadrigemina,  or  Four  Hills. 

sp.  Habenae  denarii,  the  reins  of  the  pineal  gland.  Thin  nerve-fibres 
originating  in  the  thalamus  and  entering  the  pineal  gland. 

cm.  Commissura  media;  the  middle  or  gray  commissure,  being  the  place 
where  the  gray  substance  of  the  two  thalami  is  connected. 

c.  a.  Comissura  anterior.  The  anterior  commissure  (seen  here  in  a  cross 
section)  consists  of  white  fibres.  Its  anterior  part  is  formed  by  crossing  fibres 
of  the  olfactory  nerve.  Its  posterior  part  connects  both  temporal  lobes  of  the 
hemispheres. 

cp.  Posterior  commissure.  Three  distinct  little  bundles  of  white  fibrer , 
connecting  both  thalami. 

/.  c.  Lamina  cinerea,  a  band  of  grayish  fibres. 

//.  Cross  section  of  the  optic  nerve  in  the  chiasma. 

A.  Corpus  mammillare  or  corpus  candicans.  Its  ganglionic  nature  is  better 
seen  in  Edinger's  diagram,  "The  Thalamus'and  its  Relations."  (/.  T 46) 

a  s.  Aquaductus  Sylvii,  the  tunnel  between  Vj  and  V4. 

n.  Inferior  medullary  velum,  covering  the  lower  part  of  the  Fourth  Ven- 
tricle. 

av.  Arbor  vitae,  or  the  tree  of  life  in  the  small  brain. 

sc.  Folium  cacuminis. 

sv.  Superior  vermis  ;  upper  part  of  the  worm. 

/,  2,  j,  4,  5.  6.  Lobes  of  cerebellum. 


///.  Third  nerve. 
VI.  Sixth  nerve. 
f.  Root  of  fornix. 
//.  Hypophysis  or  pituitary  body. 
t  c.  Tuber  cinereum. 
Vs.  Third  ventricle. 
V4.  Fourth  Ventricle. 
i.  Infundibulum. 


Pv.  Pons  Varolii. 

Cr.  Crus  cerebri. 

m.  Medulla  oblongata. 

pp.  Clava. 

e.  Medullary  canal. 

Pa.  Pyramid. 

p.  d.  Pyramidal  decussation*^ 


THE  HEMISPHERIC  REGION. 


IN  ascending  above  the  Thalamus  we  rise  into  the 
highest  and  most  important  province  of  the  brain, 
into  the  hemispheric  region,  consisting  of  the  cortex 
and  the  striped  bodies  or  corpora  striata. 

If  we  pursue  the  course  of  the  fibres  of  the  crusta 
upwards,  we  notice  that  on  each  side  they  break 
through  a  thick  oval  body  (the  corpus  striatum]  and 
then,  above  the  corpus  striatum  they  radiate  fanlike, 
and  disperse  in  all  directions.  The  narrow  passage 
through  the  striped  body,  filled  with  these  thick 
bundles  of  white  fibres,  is  called  the  Capsula  tnterna, 
and  their  fanlike  dispersion  above  the  striped  body  is 
called  the  corona  radiata  or  crown.  One  smaller  bun- 
dle of  nerve  fibres  passes  round  the  striped  body  to 
the  frontal  lobe  of  the  brain,  and  this  tract  is  called 
capsula  externa. 

The  corpus  striatum  is  thus  divided  by  the  capsula 
tnterna  into  two  parts,  which  after  their  shape  are 
called  the  lenticular  and  the  tailed  body — nucleus 
lentiformis  and  nucleus  caudatus.  The  lenticular  body 
appears  in  a  lateral  view,  if  looked  at  from  the  island 
of  Reil,  like  a  slightly  oval  lense.  It  is  situated  out- 
side the  internal  capsule.  The  tailed  body  shaped 
like  a  big  comma  whose  head  lies  in  front  and  whose 
tapering  tail  stretches  backward  and  downward,  lies 
inside  the  internal  capsule.  The  nucleus  caudatus  is 
in  its  thicker  frontal  part  continuous  with  the  gray 
matter  of  the  hemispheres  ;  it  is  also  intimately  con- 
necteM  with  the  shell  (or  putamen)  of  the  lenticular 


THE  HEMISPHERIC  REGION. 


149 


CORONA  RADIATA  AND  ITS  RELATIONS. 

C.  R.  Corona  Radiata  consisting  of  ascend- 
ing and  descending  fibres. 
n,  c.     Nucleus  Caudatus. 
n.  ci.     Head  of  nucleus  caudatus,  invisible 
in  the  drawing  because  covered  with  fibres. 

n.  cs.     Middle  part,  and 
n.  €3.     Tail  of  nucleus  caudatus. 

x.  Represents  the  place  where  the  lentiform  body  lies  buried  under- 
neath the  protruding  fibres. 

C.  C.  Corpus  Callosum,  connecting  the  two  hemispheres  with  each 
other. 

F.  F2,  Fj.  Fornix,  or  the  Vault ;  thick  bundles  of  white  fibres,  rising  in 
the  marginal  circumvolution  of  the  temporal  lobe  (gyrus  hippocampi),  over- 
arching the  thalamus  and  descending  to  the  corpora  candicantia,  underneath 
the  front  part  of  the  thalamus. 

The  lateral  ventricle  lies  between  the  fornix,  the  tailed  body  which 
forms  its  floor,  and  the  corpus  callosum  which  forms  its  roof.  The  right 
lateral  ventricle  is  separated  from  the  left  through  a  double-walled  mem- 
brane, called  septum  lucidum.  Each  lateral  ventricle  possesses  three  cavities 
which  are  called  its  anterior,  lateral,  and  posterior  horns. 
V.  Lateral  ventricle,  posterior  horn. 

vi.  The  anterior  horn  of  the  lateral  ventricle,  between  the  corpus  callo- 
sum above  and  the  front  part  of  the  fornix  below. 

v2.  The  lateral  or  middle  horn  of  the  lateral  ventricle,  its  floor  being 
the  lower  part  of  the  fornix. 

i,    Insula  Reil,  being  the  deepest  portion  of  the  Fissure  of  Silvius. 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


body,  and  it  engirds  in  its  tail-like  elongation  the 
thalamus  opticus  from  which  it  is  distinctly  separated 
by  a  sharp  groove  (stria  terminalis)  in  which  runs  a 
small  bundle  of  white  fibres,  tenia  semicircularis  which 
is  the  continuation  of  the  olfactory  nerve  rising  from 


THE  CORONAL  CONNECTIONS  OF  THE  THALAMUS  WITH  THE  CORTEX, 

(Diagrammatic.     After  Edinger.) 

There  are  four  groups  of  nerve-fibers:  the  anterior,  posterior,  superior, 
and  inferior  stems.  The  last  one  is  marked  U.  S.  All  these  bundles  pass 
through  the  internal  capsule. 


NUCLEUS  CAUDATUS.     (After  Edinger.) 


THE  HEMISPHERIC  REGION.          151 

the  olfactory  ganglion.  The  nucleus  caudatus  forms 
the  floor  of  the  posterior  horn  of  the  lateral  ventricle, 
and  its  tail  ends  in  an  eminence,  called  the  amygdaloid 
tubercle. 

A  great  part  of  the  coronal  nerve  fibres  rise  from 
the  thalamus.  These  nerves  connect  the  thalamus 
with  almost  all  regions  of  the  hemispheres ;  near  the 
thalamus  they  are  gathered  in  bundles  called  the  stems 
of  the  thalamus. 

For  further  information  we  refer  to  the  adjoined 
illustrations  and  diagrams,  representing  the  brain,  in 
coronal,  sagital,  and  horizontal  sections. 

Coronal   sections  are   such  as  run  parallel  to  the 


A— 


CORONAL  SECTION  OF  BRAIN.     (After  Edinger.) 
AA,  BB,  CC     Indicate  the  three  horizontal  sections  on  pp.  153,  154,  155. 


152 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


Cr, 


SAGITAI.    MEDIAN    SECTION    OF    BRAIN. 

F.  M.  Foramen  Monro,  the  entrance  from  the  third  ventricle  into  the 
lateral  ventricle. 

S.  M.     Sulcus  Monro,  a  groove  of  the  third  ventricle  in  the  thalamus. 

St.  Septum  pellucidum,  a  membrane  forming  the  inner  wall  of  the 
lateral  ventricle.  Each  ventricle  having  its  own  septum  pellucidum,  there 
are  two  septa  directly  facing  each  other.  The  space  between  them  is 
wrongly  called  the  ventricle  of  the  septum  pellucidum.  This  space  is,  in 
fact,  no  ventricle,  but  must  be  conceived  as  the  continuation  of  the  fissure 
between  both  frontal  lobes.  The  continuity  of  this  fissure  with  the  ventricle 
of  the  septum  pellucidum  has  been  interrupted  by  the  growth  of  the  corpus 
callosum.  The  corpus  callosum  (the  commissural  fibres  joining  both  hemis- 
pheres) is  little  developed  in  lower  mammals,  it  is  strongly  developed  in  the 
monkey  and  is  still  more  prominent  in  man. 

Ccl.  i.    Rostrum  or  Beak,  lowest  part  of  the  corpus  callosum. 

Ccl.  2.    Genu  or  Knee  of  corpus  callosum. 

Ccl.  j.     Upper  surface  of  corpus  callosum. 

Ccl.  4.    Splenium  or  Wedge ;  posterior  part  of  corpus  callosum. 

Cba.    Peduncles  of  corpus  callosum. 

Com,     Commissura  Media,  connecting  the  two  thalami.  (Gray  substance). 

Coo..    Commissura  anterior,  inter-connecting  the  temporal  lobes. 

Cop.     Commissura  posterior  ;  white  fibres  connecting  both  thalami. 

Let.  Lamina  cinerea  terminalis  ;  part  of  tuber  cinereum,  originally  the 
top  and  terminus  of  the  primitive  brain  (as  explained  in  the  development  of 
the  brain). 

//.    Optic  nerve. 


Hi,     Chiasma  of  optic  nerve. 

H.   Hypophysis  or  pituitary  body. 

TV..  Tuber  cinereum. 

Cca.     Corpus  candicans. 

P.     Pons. 

Jfe.     Medulla  oblongata. 


Vq.     Fourth  ventricle. 

A.     Aquaductus  Sylvii. 

Fta.     Incisura   pallii,   sup.  vale. 

Ftp.     Vallecula,    posterior  vale. 

Lq.     Four  Hills. 

Cn.     Conarium   or  pineal  gland, 

Cbl.    Cerebellum. 


THE  HEMISPHERIC  REGION. 


coronal  suture  of  the  cranium.  For  instance  a  ver- 
tical section  through  both  ears  is  a  coronal  section. 
Sagital  sections  are  such  as  run  parallel  to  the  sagital 
suture  of  the  cranium.  The  sagital  suture  stands  like 
an  arrow  on  the  string  of  a  bow  at  right  angles  upon 
the  coronal  suture. 


t 


FIRST  HORIZONTAL  SECTION  OF  BRAIN.     (After  Henly.) 
Indicated  in  the  coronal  section  by  an  imaginary  line  to  be  drawn  through 

AA,  and  laying  bare  the  corpus  callosum  (Germ.  Balkeri). 
Lt.     Ligamentum  tectum,  Striae  longitudinalis  Lancisi. 
Sim.    Striae  longitudinalis  mediates;  white  longitudinal  fibres,  interlacing 

in  several  places,  running  along  in  the  middle  of  the  corpus  callosum.     The 

mass  of  white  substance  between  the  cortex  and  corpus  callosum  is  called 

Centrum  Semiovale. — Ccl,    Corpus  callosum, 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


SECOND  HORIZONTAL  SECTION  OF  BRAIN.     (After  Edinger.) 
Indicated  in  the  coronal  section  by  an  imaginary  line  to  be  drawn  through 
BB,  laying  bare  the  thalamus  and  nucleus  caudatus. 

The  occipital  lobes  in  reality  appear  as  close  together  as  the  frontal  lobes, 
so  as  to  cover  the  cerebellum. 

The  Fornix  rising  in  front  from  both  thalami  shows  a  cross-section  in 
F.II.  The  fornix  overarches  the  tbalamus  and  descends  to  the  marginal 
convolution  on  the  base  of  the  brain,  which  is  visible  in  F.I  only.  This  con- 
volution is  called  the  Gyrus  Hippocampi.  The  gyrus  hippocampi  passes 
from  the  occipital  lobe  into  the  front  lower  part  of  the  temporal  lobe,  where 
it  is  cailed  Gyrus  Uncinatus  or  hooked  circumvolution. 


THE  HEMISPHERIC  REGION.          155 


Ph 


THIRD    HORIZONTAL    SECTION    OF    BRAIN.       (After     Flechsig.) 

Indicated    in    the     coronal  section   by   an   imaginary   line  to  be  drawn 
through  CC. 

Th.    Thalamus.  /.  K.     Internal  capsule  posterior 

Me.     Middle  commissure.  limb. 

f.     Fornix.  K.     Knee  of  internal  capsule. 

si.     Septum  lucidum.  E.  K.     External  capsule  between 

sp.     Splenium.  lenticular  body  and  claustrum. 

N.  C.     Nucleus  caudatus.  Cls.     Claustrum. 

ah.      Anterior    horn     of    lateral  In.     Insula. 

ventricle.  o.    Operculum. 


156 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


FOR  CUT  SEE  PRECEDING  PAGE. 


ph.  Posterior  horn  of  lateral  ven-  F.    Frontal  lobe, 

tricle.  ////.     Third  frontal  circumvolu- 

C'.    Tail  of  nucleus  caudatus. 

L.  N.     Lenticular  body. 

/.  K' .     Internal  capsule   anterior 
limb. 


tion. 


O.     Occipital  lobe. 

T.  S.    Temporo-sphenoidal  lobe. 


, 


CROSS-SECTION  THROUGH  CYRUS  HIPPOCAMPI.  (After  Edinger.) 
The  gyrus  hippocampi  is  accompanied  by  a  smaller  circumvolution,  the 
gyrus  dentatus,  (or  fascia  dentata)  which  is  almost  bare  of  all  gray  substance. 
It  produces  by  protrusion  inside  a  ridge  in  the  lateral  ventricle,  called  Horn 
of  Ammon,  or  pes  hippocampi  major.  The  fornix  rises  from  fibres  origin- 
ating in  the  gyrus  dentatus,  where  it  is  called  Fimbria. 

All  the  marginal  circumvolutions  of  the  hemispheres ;  viz.,  the  gyrus 
fornicatus,  which  surrounds  the  corpus  callosum,  its  continuation,  the  gyrus 
hippocampi  with  the  fascia  dentata,  and  the  cornu  Ammonis,  and  also  the 
nerve-fibres  of  the  striae  Lancisi  are  strongly  developed  in  animals  in  whom 
the  function  of  smell  is  prominent.  In  the  foetal  stage  and  in  infants  they 
are  comparatively  large  ;  in  the  adult  man  they  are  almost  atrophied.  In  the 
dolphin" who  has  no  olfactory  bulb,  they  are  found  in  a  state  of  retrogression. 


THE  CORTEX  AND  ITS  RELATIONS. 


THE  end-stations  of  the  innumerable  fibres  of  the 
corona  radiata  are  the  gray  cells  of  the  Cortex.  These 
gray  cells  form  the  ganglionic  element  of  the  hemi- 
spheres. In  the  human  brain  they  are  associated  among 
themselves  by  many  systems  of  commissural  fibres, 
which  although  extremely  complex  and  numerous,  are 
yet  very  economically  arranged.  Almost  every  prov- 
ince of  the  brain  stands  in  direct  relation  with  other 
provinces. 

The  white  fibres  of  the  brain  accordingly  consist  first 
of  ascending,  and  secondly  of  descending  nerves,  all  of 
which  are  gathered  together  in  the  capsules.  A  dissec- 
tion of  these  bundles  would  therefore  destroy  the  con- 
nections of  the  Cortex  with  all  the  lower  centres  of  the 
nervous  system.  Through  these  narrow  passages  all 
sensory  impressions  rise  into,  and  all  voluntary  motor 
impulses  descend  from,  the  hemispheric  region.  But 
besides  the  ascending  and  descending  fibres,  there  is 
a  third  class  which  we  call  commissural  fibres,  serving 
the  purpose  of  inter-communication  among  the  cor- 
tical cells,  and  establishing  relations  also  between  the 
cortex  and  the  hemispheric  ganglions  (nucleus  cauda- 
tus  and  nucleus  lentiformis). 

There  are  commissural  fibres  which  interconnect 
the  two  hemispheres.  The  most  important  tract  of 
these  nerves  forms  a  thick  and  broad  body  of  a  tough 
structure,  called  corpus  callosum  (German  Balkeri).  A 


158 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


smaller  tract  of  this  kind  is  the  anterior  commissure. 
Fibres  of  the  anterior  commissure  inter- connect  both 
temporal  lobes,  while  the  corpus  callosum  appears  to 
bring  all  other  parts  of  the  one  hemisphere  into  rela- 
tion with  the  corresponding  parts  of  the  other. 

The  most  important  bundles  that  associate  the  dif- 
ferent provinces  of  the  same  hemisphere  are  $&&  fasci- 
culus arcuatus  (arching  bundle),  the  fasciculus  unci- 
natus  (the  hooked  bundle),  the  fasciculus  longitudina- 
lis  inferior  (the  lower  longitudinal  bundle)  and  the  cin- 
gulum  or  girdle. 


COMMISSURAL    FIBRES   OF    THE    HEMISPHERES.       (After  Edinger.) 

According  to  experiments  made  by  Charcot,  a  dis- 
section of  two- thirds  of  the  front  part  of  the  internal 
capsule  produces  paralysis,  while  a  dissection  of  the 
posterior  limb,  the  third  and  hindmost  part  of  the 
capsula  interna,  is  accompanied  with  anaesthesia. 
This  proves  that  the  anterior  fibres  of  the  capsule  are 
mainly  motor,  and  the  posterior  fibres  sensory  nerves. 


CORTEX  AND  ITS  RELATIONS.          159 


SAGITTAL    MEDIAN    SECTION. 

(After  Edinger.) 

Showing  the  course  of  some  tracts  of 
the  corona  radiata.  The  strongest 
bundle  in  the  middle  is  the  pyramidal 
tract.  The  decussation  of  the  pyram- 
idal tract  is  visible  below  the  medulla 
oblongata. 

The  rays  of  the  tegmentum  (Haubenstrahlung)   rise  from  the  tegmen- 
tum  (Haube], 

There  are  two  connections  with  the  Pons  (Brilcke}. 


CORONAL    SECTION    THROUGH    THE    BRAIN, 

Showing  the  connections  between  both  He- 
mispheres by  the  corpus  callosum  and  the 
commissura  anterior.  (After  Edinger.) 


FIERCE 

(After  Edinger.) 
Nerve  fibres  connecting  ad- 
jacent circumvolutions. 


i6o 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


FIBRES    OF    THE    HEMISPHERES. 

Diagram  of  the  connections  between  the  Striped  Body  and  the  Cortex. 
(After  Huguenin,  reproduced  from  Charcot.) 


NC.     Nucleus  caudatus. 

CO.  Tbalamus  opticus  (French, 
couche  optique}. 

NL.  Nucleus  lentiformis,  having 
three  segments. 

AM.  Claustrum  (French,  avant 
mur). 

Cf.     Capsula  interna. 

CE.     Capsula  externa. 

PP.  ^Crus  cerebri 

CA.     Cornu  Ammonis. 


NI.    Insula. 

FL,  Fibres  of  crus  in  connection 
with  nucleus  lentiformis. 

F2f.  Fibres  of  nucleus  lentifor- 
mis in  connection  with  cortex. 

FK.  Fibres  of  nucleus  caudatus  in 
connection  with  cortex. 

FD.  Direct  fibres,  establishing  a 
direct  connection  between  cortex  and 
crus. 

CC,    Corpus  callosum. 


CORTEX  AND  ITS  RELATIONS. 


161 


STRONGLY  MAGNIFIED  SECTION 
OF  CORTICAL  SUBSTANCE. 

(After  Edinger.) 

(Taken  from  the  frontal  lobe 

of  a  human  brain.) 

The  most  superficial  layer 
of  gray  cells  (i)  is  covered 
with  a  net-work  of  extremely 
fine  white  fibres  (tangential 
fibres) ;  the  cells  of  the  lower 
strata  are  the  larger,  the 
deeper  they  are  situated. 
The  second  layer  passes  grad- 
ually into  the  third,  contain- 
ing large  pyramidal  cells. 
The  fourth  layer  contains 
smaller  cells. 

These  four  layers  are  inter- 
sected by  white  fibres  which,  * 
enumerating  them  from  be- 
low, Edinger  calls,  a)  radii 
or  medullar  rays;  b)  inter- 
radiary  net-work ;  c)  Grenna- 
ry's  layer  (called  after  Gren- 
nary  who  described  these 
fibres);  d)  superradiary  net- 
work; and  e]  tangential  fibres. 

The  right  part  is  prepared 
with  Weigert's  Haemotoxy- 
line,  the  left  part  with  Gol- 
gi's  sublimate,  showing  on 
the  left  side  the  fibres  and  on 
the  right  side  the  gray  cells 
only.  There  are  many  more 
gray  cells  than  appear  in  the 
diagram.  Their  number  is 
reduced  in  order  to  s  h  o  w 
their  relations  more  clearly. 
The  gray  cells  appear  some- 
what larger  than  they  ought 
to,  because  the  sublimate 
employed,  according  to  Gol- 
gi's  method,  not  only  colors 
the  gray  substance,  but  fills 
the  holl  iw  spaces  round  the 
cells  and  their  processes 
also. 


1 62  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

The  Cortex,  or  gray  substance  of  the  hemispheres, 
is  a  very  complex  substance,  which  shows  a  great  va- 
riety in  the  different  parts  of  the  brain.  It  consists  of 
several  layers  of  gray  cells  of  different  size  embedded 
into  white  fibres.  The  adjoined  diagram  represents  a 
strongly  magnified  section  of  the  Cortex,  taken  from 
the  frontal  lobe,  and  prepared  with  two  different  chemi- 
cals. The  left  side  makes  the  gray  cells  come  out 
strongly,  while  the  white  fibres  disappear.  In  the 
left  side,  on  the  contrary,  the  gray  matter  disappears, 
while  the  white  fibres  come  out  so  as  to  be  plainly 
visible. 


LOCALIZATION  OF  BRAIN  ACTIVITY. 


FISSURES  AND  CONVOLUTIONS. 

IT  is  commonly  acknowledged  that  the  hemispheres 
are  the  seat  of  all  psychic  activity.  This,  however,  is 
true  in  a  limited  sense  only.  Properly  speaking  man 
does  not  think  with  his  brain  alone ;  he  thinks  with 
his  entire  body.  Yet  in  the  brain,  especially  in  the 
hemispheres  and  the  hemispheric  ganglions  (nucleus 
caudatus  and  nucleus  lentiformis},  his  psychic  activity 
is  concentrated.  The  co-operation  of  every  part  of  the 
organism  is  necessary  to  produce  thought  as  the  final 
result  at  the  centre  of  the  organism's  activity. 

Flourens  proposed  the  theory,  that  the  hemispheres 
performed  their  functions  in  a  way  such  that  the  entire 
cortex  is  always  engaged  in  any  kind  of  mental  work 
performed.  If  part  of  the  cortical  substance  be  lost, 
Flourens  maintains  that  all  the  functions  will  be  pro- 
portionately affected. 

Goltz  adopted  Flourens's  view  to  the  extent  of  hold- 
ing, that  in  case  of  a  loss  of  cortical  matter  some  homol- 
ogous substance  would  perform  the  functions  of  the  por- 
tion lost.  The  vicarious  activity  of  brain-substance  ap- 
pears to  be  a  well-established  fact,  although  it  does  not 
take  place  to  such  an  extent  and  in  such  a  way  as  Flou- 


1 64  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

rens  supposed.  "The  different  parts  of  the  hemispheres 
are,"  as  Prof.  Hering  says,  "like  a  great  toolbox  with 
innumerable  kinds  of  tools.  Each  single  cerebral 
element  is  a  particular  tool.  Consciousness  may  be 
likened  to  a  workingman  whose  tools  gradually  become 
so  numerous,  so  various,  and  so  specialized  that  he 
has  for  every  detail  of  his  work  a  tool  which  is  spe- 
cially adapted  to  perform  just  this  kind  of  work  very 
easily  and  accurately.  If  he  loses  one  of  his  tools, 
he  still  possesses  a  thousand  other  tools  to  do  the 
same  work  although  with  more  difficulty  and  loss  of 
time.  Should  he  lose  these  thousand  also,  he  might 
retain  hundreds,  with  which  he  can  possibly  do  his 
work  still,  but  the  difficulty  increases.  He  must  have 
lost  a  very  large  number  of  his  tools  if  certain  actions 
become  absolutely  impossible." 


Gall  was  the  first  to  propound  a  localization  of  the 
different  psychic  functions.  He  started  from  the  sup- 
position that  the  skull  being  the  case  of  the  brain  ought 
to  show  its  formation,  and  he  founded  upon  this  sup- 
position his  phrenology.  The  skull  shows  indeed  the 
formation  of  the  brain,  but  it  shows  its  outward  shape 
only ;  and  even  that  imperfectly,  because  different 
craniums  vary  very  materially  in  thickness.  Yet  in 
judging  about  the  formation  of  the  brain,  the  internal 
structures  are  of  much  greater  importance.  Gall's 
phrenology,  being  in  fact  a  kind  of  cranioscopy,  is  now 
entirely  abandoned. 

It  is  strange  that  most  of  the  meritorious  discov- 
eries of  this  great  scientist  are  little  known  outside  of  a 
narrow  circle  of  specialists,  while  the  error  of  his 
phrenology  has  become  a  favorite  idea  among  half- 


LOCALIZATION. 


scientific  people  and  has  made   his  name   extremely 
popular. 

Gall's  idea  of  a  localization  of  the  different  func- 
tions of  the  hemispheres  has  been  revived  in  later 
years,  yet  upon  another  basis  and  in  an  entirely  new 
shape.  The  modern  conception  of  localized  brain- 
functions  is  based  upon  experiments  and  affords  at  the 
same  time  a  more  precise  and  definite  idea  of  the 
modus  operandi  of  the  brain. 


KHRENOLOGY. 


II. 
III. 

IV. 
V. 

VI. 
VII 


Sexual  instinct. 

Love  of  children. 

Friendship. 

Self-preservation. 

Homicidal  impulses. 

Smartness. 

Acquisitiveness. 

VIII.  Ambition. 

IX.  Vanity. 

X.  Circumspection. 

XI.  Memory  for  objects. 

XII.  Sense  of  locality. 

XIII.  Memory  for  persons.* 

XIV.  Memory  for  words.* 


(After  Gall.) 

XV.  Language.* 

XVI.  Painting  (sense  of  colors). 

XVII.  Music. 

XVIII.  Numbers  and  arithmetic* 

XIX.  Mechanical  abilities. 

XX.  Comparison. 

XXI.  Profoundness. 

XXII.  Wit. 

XXIII.  Poetry. 

XXIV.  Goodnaturedness. 

XXV.  Imitation.* 

XXVI.  Religion. 
XXVII  Enthusiasm 

*  Do  not  appear  in  the  cut. 


The  outward  surface  of  the  cortex  looks  like  a 
a  tract  of  land  in  which  many  rivers  and  brooks  have 
produced  furrows.  The  furrows  are  called  sulci  or 


1 66  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

fissures,  and  the  ridges  between  them  are  called 
convolutions.  The  fissures  are  produced  to  effect  an 
economy  of  space  ;  in  so  far  as  by  their  presence  the 
area  of  cortical  substance  is  greatly  increased  without 
any  considerable  increase  of  the  size  of  the  head  ;  and 
it  has  been  observed  that  the  higher  the  intelligence 
of  an  animal  is,  the  richer  is  its  brain  in  convolu- 
tions. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  fissures  are  the  arteries. 
The  cortical  substance  is  in  greater  need  of  arterial 
blood  than  any  other  part  of  the  body.  The  more 
work  an  animal  has  to  do  with  its  brain,  the  more 
blood  is  needed  in  the  cortex.  Thus  the  arteries  sur- 
rounding the  superficial  structures  of  the  hemispheres 
become  stronger  and  sink  deeper,  and  the  fissures  are 
produced  as  if  to  form  a  natural  system  of  irriga- 
tions. The  fissures  are,  as  Seitz  calls  them,  nutrimen- 
tral  channels,*  Nahrschlitze. 

The  names  of  the  different  parts  of  the  hemi- 
spheres, their  lobes,  convolutions,  and  fissures  may 
be  studied  in  the  adjoined  diagrams.  The  most  im- 
portant fissures  are  the  fissure  of  Rolando  or  sulcus 
centralis^  which  is  the  province  of  the  motor  centres, 
and  the  fissure  of  Sylvius,  which,  together  with  the 
adjoining  part  of  the  third  frontal  convolution  in  the 
left  hemisphere,  is  the  centre  of  speech. 

The  attempts  at  localizing  the  different  functions  of 
the  cortex  have  been  but  partly  successful.  The  most 
prominent  workers  in  this  line  of  investigation  are 
Fritsch  and  Hitzig,  Ferrier,  Exner,  Goltz,  Munck, 
and  others.  The  results  are  shown  in  the  diagrams 
of  the  following  chapter  on  pp.  170  and  171. 

*  Johannes  Seitz  :  Ueber  die  Bedeutung  der  Hirnfurchung.     Leipzig  and 
f  1887. 


LOCALIZATION. 

Gca 


i67 


THE  LEFT  HEMISPHERE.     (After  Henle.) 

The  fissure  of  Silvius  is  drawn  aside  so  as  to  show  the  extent  of  the  In- 
sula.  The  insula  contains  one  long  and  two  short  convolutions,  called 
gyrus  longus  and  gyri  breves.  The  cortical  substance  which  covers  the  insula 
in  a.  is  called  operculum. 

In.     Insula. 

Sc.    Sulcus  centralis,  or  fissure  of  Rolando. 

Gca.     Gyrus  centralis  anterior. 

Gcp.    Gyrus  centralis  posterior. 


SIDE  VIEW  OF  THE  BRAIN.     (After  Ecker.) 
The  convolutions  and  lobes  are  in  Roman  letters,  the  fissures  in  Italics. 


1 68 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


LONGITUDINAL  SECTION  OF  THE   BRAIN. 


LOCALIZATION.  169 


1 1. 
MOTORY  AND  SENSORY  CENTRES. 

THE  most  important  motory  regions  of  the  human 
brain  are,  according  to  all  authorities  on  the  subject,  situ- 
ated around  the  fissure  of  Rolando.  There  is  less  agree- 
ment concerning  the  sensory  centres.  The  optic  cen- 
tre is  situated,  according  to  Meynert,  Munk,  and  Hu- 
guenin,  in  the  first,  second,  and  third  occipital  lobes  ; 
according  to  Exner,  in  the  first  and  second  only,  and 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  cuneus. 

The  acoustic  centre  lies  in  the  temporal  lobes.  Ir- 
ritations of  these  centres  cause  hallucinations  of  hear- 
ing. In  post  mortem  examinations  Huguenin  found 
the  temporal  lobes  of  deaf  patients  in  an  atrophied 
condition. 

The  centres  of  taste  and  smell  are,  according  to 
Ferrier,  supposed  to  be  situated  in  the  uncus  gyri  for- 
nicati. 

The  tactile  centres,  according  to  Trippier,  Exner, 
Petrina  and  others,  must  be  sought  for  in  the  regions 
of  their  respective  motory  centres. 

The  frontal  lobe  does  not  contain  either  motory  or 
sensory  centres.  It  seems  to  be  in  the  service  of  more 
abstract  kinds  of  mental  activity,  and  is  most  likely 
also  the  seat  of  affectionate  and  emotional  centres. 
Defects  of  this  part,  be  they  acquired  or  inherited,  are 
as  a  rule  accompanied  with  idiocy  or  lack  of  intelli- 
gence. Monkeys  in  whom  the  frontal  lobes  were  re- 
moved, showed  no  irregularities  in  the  exercise  of 
their  motory  and  sensory  functions  ;  yet  they  appeared 
more  whimsical  and  less  affectionate  than  before. 


170 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


(After  Ferrier.) 

A.  Side  view  of  left  hemisphere. 

B,  Upper  surface  of  left  hemisphere. 

1.  Putting  forward  of  opposite  leg,  as  in  walk- 
ing. 

2.  Complex  movements  of   thigh,    leg,    and 
foot,  with  adapted  movements  of  trunk. 

3.  Movements  of  tail. 

4.  Retraction  and  adduction  of  opposite  fore-limb. 

5.  Extension  forward  of  opposite  arm  and  hand,  as  if  to  reach  or  touch 
something  in  front. 

a,  b,  c,  d.  Successive  complex  movements  of  fingers  and  wrist,  ending  in 
clinching  of  fist. 

6.  Supination  and  flexion  of  forearm,  by  which  the  hand  is  raised  toward 
the  mouth. 

7.  Action  of  the  zygomatic  muscle  by  which  the  angle  of  the  mouth  is  re- 
tracted and  elevated. 

8.  Elevation  of  the  ala  of  nose  and  the  upper  lip,  with  depression  of  lower 
lip  so  as  to  expose  the  canine  teeth  on  the  opposite  side. 

9.  Opening  of  mouth  with  protrusion  of  tongue. 

10.  Opening  of  mouth  with  retraction  of  tongue. 

11.  Retraction  of  angle  of  mouth. 

12.  Eyes  opening  widely,  pupils  dilating,  head  and  eyes  turning  toward 
opposite  side. 

13.  13'.  Eyeballs  moving  to  opposite  side,  pupils  generally  contracting. 

14.  Sudden  retraction  of  opposite  ear. 

15.  Torsion  of  lip  and  nostril  on  the  same  side.    This  place  is  situated  in 
(he  subiculum  of  Cornu  Ammonis. 


LOCALIZATION. 


171 


DOG  S   BRAIN. 

A-J.  Indicates  Sensory  Centres. 

A.  Vision. 

B.  Hearing. 
C-J.  Touch  of. 

a-f.  Indicate  motory  centres. 

a.  Neck. 

a  '.  Back.  [Foreleg. 

b.  Extensors  and  Adductors  of 

c.  Flexors  and  Bronators  of  Foreleg. 


(After  Munk.) 

C.  Hindlegs.  G.  Ears. 

D.  Forelegs.  H.  Neck. 

E.  Head.  J.  Trunk. 

F.  Eyes. 

d.  Muscles  of  Hindleg. 

e.  Focialis. 

e'.  Upper  region  of  Facialis. 

f.  Muscles  of  the  eye. 

g.  Muscles  of  chewing. 


MONKEY'S  BRAIN.     (After  Munk.) 
Explanation  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  cut 


172  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


in. 
LOSS  OF  BRAIN  SUBSTANCE. 

IT  is  strange  that  a  man  may  lose  large  portions  of 
the  cortical  substance  of  his  brain,  without  showing 
any  apparent  loss  of  faculty.  If  the  motor  centres  are 
injured,  the  effect  will  always  be  an  impairment 
of  the  voluntary  motions  of  the  opposite  side  ;  yet 
the  loss  of  sensory  or  other  centres  in  one  hemisphere 
will  not  be  noticeable  so  long  as  the  other  hemisphere 
remains  sound — except  that  such  half  brained  persons 
will  tire  more  quickly  than  normal  people.  We  may 
explain  this  strange  fact  by  comparing  it  to  the  condi- 
tion of  a  man  who  has  lost  one  eye.  If  the  loss  of  the 
eye  were  not  noticeable  (perhaps  because  the  man 
wears  an  excellently  imitated  artificial  eye),  it  would 
by  our  ordinary  methods  of  observation  be  very  diffi- 
cult to  detect  the  loss. 

The  following  facts  from  which  this  rule  is  de- 
duced, are  collected  in  Hermann's  "  Physiologie," 
Vol  II,  2.  p.  333  : 

"  Berenger  de  Carpi  tells  of  a  young  man  into  whose  brain  a 
body  four  finger-breadths  in  width  and  as  many  in  length  had 
been  driven  so  deep  that  it  lay  concealed  by  the  matter  of  the 
brain.  When  it  was  removed  a  certain  amount  of  cerebral  sub- 
stance was  lost,  and  thirteen  days  afterwards  a  second  discharge 
occurred  spontaneously.  The  man  recovered,  showed  no  diseased 
symptoms,  lived  for  a  long  time  afterwards,  and  attained  high  dis- 
tinction in  the  Church. 

"  Longet  knew  a  general  who  through  a  wound  in  the  skull 
near  the  crown  of  the  head  had  suffered  a  considerable  loss  of 
brain-substance.  This  defect  permanently  manifested  itself  by  a 


LOCALIZATION.  173 

depression  in  the  part  of  the  skull  affected.  The  general  preserved 
his  activity  of  mind  ;  his  correct  judgment  in  professional  matters 
exhibited  no  traces  of  disease  ;  only  he  was  wont  to  tire  quickly 
when  engaged  in  intellectual  work. 

"  Quesnay  tells  of  an  old  servant  whose  right  parietal  bone 
was  crushed.  Every  day  cerebral  matter  oozed  from  the  wound, 
and  was  removed.  On  the  eighteenth  day  the  patient  fell  out  of 
bed,  which  resulted  in  further  considerable  losses  of  brain-sub- 
stance. On  the  thirty-fifth  day  he  got  drunk  ;  a  fresh  emission  of 
cerebral  matter  occurred,  which  was  caused  by  the  patient's  tearing 
away  in  his  intoxication  the  bandage  about  the  wcund.  On  the 
day  following  it  could  be  seen  that  the  defect  reached  almost  to 
the  corpus  callosum.  The  patient  got  well  ;  his  psychical  functions 
were  restored  to  their  complete  activity  ;  but  he  remained  para- 
lyzed on  his  left  side. 

"During  the  blasting  of  a  rock,  a  crow-bar  three  feet  and 
seven  inches  long  and  one  and  a  quarter  inches  thick  struck  a 
young  man,  and  penetrating  the  head  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
joint  of  the  left  jaw,  passed  through  the  skull  and  came  out  on  the 
same  side  in  the  region  of  the  forehead,  having  thus  run  through 
the  hemisphere  of  the  brain.  The  man  got  well,  lived  twelve  and 
a  half  years  afterwards,  and  apart  from  the  blindness  caused  by 
the  injury  to  the  eye  he  showed  no  indications  of  abnormality,  ex- 
cept certain  fits  of  peevishness,  caprice,  and  obstinacy. 

"  A  whole  hemisphere  may  be  removed,  without  injury  to  the 
psychical  functions.  But  in  that  case  disturbances  of  the  motory 
functions  on  the  opposite  side  appear  regularly  to  set  in. 

"  A  psychically  normal  individual  that — as  it  happened — was 
paralyzed  since  his  birth  on  the  right  side,  died  of  phthisis.  Upon 
dissection  the  place  of  the  right  hemisphere  was  found  to  be  filled 
with  some  kind  of  serous  fluid." 


IV. 
THE  CENTRE  OF  LANGUAGE. 

There  is  a  region  in  the  cortex,  a  lesion  of  which 
produces  almost  without  any  exception  disturbances 
and  even  loss  of  speech.  It  is  accordingly  called  the 


-174  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

Centre  of  Language.  This  region  is  situated  in  the 
island  of  Reil  at  the  bottom  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius 
and  extends  over  the  parts  adjacent  to  the  island,  es- 
pecially the  third  frontal  convolution. 

The  centre  of  language  is  unilateral  and  must  be 
sought  as  a  rule  in  the  left  hemisphere.  However 
there  are  some  exceptions.  We  have  reason  to  believe 
that  left-handed  people  are  right-brained  speakers. 
Left-handed  people  who  had  lost  the  power  of  speech 
were  found  to  have  suffered  injuries  in  the  right  hem- 
isphere, but  whenever  their  left  hemisphere  hap- 
pened to  be  affected  they  had  not  lost  the  power  of 
speech. 

Loss  of  language,  or  aphasia,  may  have  various 
causes,  and  will  accordingly  present  different  symptoms. 
It  need  not  at  all  be  due  to  a  derangement  of  mental 
powers  but  maybe  a  loss  merely  of  the  motor  capacity 
of  speech.  In  that  case  it  is  more  properly  called 
paralysis  of  speech.  The  patient  may  still  be  able  to 
write  what  he  means.  Yet  the  ability  to  write  may 
be  lost  also  ;  this  disease  is  called  agraphia.  Agraphia 
is  not  a  paralysis  of  the  hand  ;  it  is  a  paralysis  of  the 
memories  of  penmanship.  The  hand  may  be  able 
to  perform  all  the  single  motions  necessary  for 
writing,  but  the  patient  has  lost  the  power  of  co- 
ordinating these  movements  so  as  to  write  words ; 
he  is  like  an  uneducated  man  who  has  not  learned 
how  to  write.  In  that  case  the  patient  may  be  able 
to  communicate  through  gestures  or  pantomime. 
Should  the  power  of  making  gestures  be  lost  also,  the 
patient  may  nevertheless  know  everything  he  wants 
and  may  possess  full  clearness  of  his  mind  ;  he  may 
think  of  the  words  even  which  he  intends  to  use  (as 
we  know  from  patients  who  have  recovered  from  such 


LOCALIZATION.  175 

diseases),  yet  he  is  not  able  to  communicate  his 
thoughts. 

Quite  different  from  these  forms  of  a  paralysis  of 
speech  is  the  amnestic  aphasia  which  is  caused  by  an 
obliteration  of  the  word-memories  themselves.  In  that 
case,  the  patient  can  perhaps  read  and  repeat,  he  can 
pronounce  every  word  correctly,  he  can  also  write 
from  dictation.  The  different  motor  centres  are  un- 
impaired, yet  the  words,  or  certain  categories,  are  no 
longer  at  the  patient's  disposal.  They  are*  as  if  for- 
gotten, blotted  out  of  his  memory,  and  wrapped  in  ob- 
livion. Amnestic  aphasia  usually  shows  in  post  mortem 
examinations  a  destruction  of  the  first  frontal  con- 
volution on  the  left  side  where  it  is  in  relation  with 
the  island  of  Reil. 

As  a  special  form  of  amnestic  aphasia  we  may  con- 
sider the  state  in  which  ideas  are  not  associated  with 
their  words.  The  ideas  as  well  as  the  words  are  still 
extant,  yet  their  connection  is  destroyed,  the  fibres  of 
association  are  interrupted. 

We  quote  from  Hermann's  "  Physiologic  "  Profes- 
sor Exner's  report  of  the  present  state  of  investigation 
concerning  the  cortical  centre  of  speech.  Professor 
Exner  says  : 

"If  a  man  gives  an  appropriate  answer  to  a  ques- 
tion, the  following  things  must,  it  is  evident,  take 
place  within  him  : 

(1)  He  must  hear  the  words  spoken  ; 

(2)  These  words  must  awaken  in  him  the  ideas  that 
belong  to  them  ; 

(3)  From  the  mental  operation  conducted  with  the 
help  of  these  ideas,  a  resultant  product  must  issue  ; 

(4)  This  product  must  be  clothed  in  words  ; 


176  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

(5)  The  central  innervations  necessary  to  the  utter- 
ance of  these  words  must  be  brought  about ;  and  finally 

(6)  These  innervations   must  arrive  at   the  proper 
muscles  in  their  proper  order  and  intensity. 

"  If  the  first  requisite  is  not  fulfilled,  we  are  dealing 
with  a  deaf  person ;  if  the  last  is  not  fulfilled,  most 
probably  with  a  patient  suffering  from  some  affection 
in  the  cms  ;  if  the  mental  operation  mentioned  under 
(3)  is  not  accomplished,  it  is  a  case  of  dementia  ;  all 
other  interruptions  or  disturbances  of  the  above-men- 
tioned processes,  viz.  (2),  (4),  and  (5),  lead  to  aphasia. 

"Cases  of  diseases  occur  that  are  only  to  be  inter- 
preted upon  the  supposition  that  the  power  of  com- 
prehension of  words  mentioned  under  (2)  has  been 
lost.  We  have  here  to  do  with  patients  that  are  very 
well  able  to  speak  words  but  do  not  understand  them, 
though  their  hearing  be  good.  An  example  will  illus- 
trate this : * 

"  '  A  woman  25  years  of  age,  ten  days  after  parturition,  while 
violently  straining  to  relieve  her  bowels,  suddenly  became  uncon- 
scious. When  consciousness  returned  she  exhibited  no  symptoms 
of  paralysis,  but  was  suffering  from  aphasia  and  paraphasia.f 

"  '  It  was  with  difficulty,  or  not  at  all,  that  she  found  words  to 
speak  with  ;  she  confounded  or  mutilated  them,  said  "  Butter  "  in- 
stead of  '  'Doctor, "  omitted  words  and  syllables,  supplied  others,  used 
the  infinitive  for  the  determinate  moods,  and  conjugated  irregular 
verbs  regularly.  Not  understanding  a  single  word  at  first,  she  was 
taken  to  be  deaf.  It  soon  turned  out  however  that  she  heard  a 
knock  at  the  door  and  even  the  ticking  of  a  watch  as  distinctly  as 
ever  before  ;  she  distinguished  the  bells  of  two  different  apart- 
ments of  the  house  by  their  sound,  etc.,  etc.' 

*This  case  is  from  Schmidt  (Allgemeine  Zeitschrift  fiir  Psychiatric, 
XXVII,  p.  304,  1871);  cited  from  Kussmaul's  Storungen  der  Spruc/ie ,  p.  176, 
Leipzig,  1877 — a  work  to  be  recommended  to  all  who  are  interested  in  the 
present  state  of  knowledge  upon  this  subject. 

t  This  word  denotes  a  disturbance  of  speech  in  which,  instead  of  the 
words  that  fit  the  sense,  other,  improper  words,  or  wholly  meaningless  com- 
binations of  words,  are  employed. 


LOCALIZA  TION.  1 77 

"  In  cases  of  aphasia  like  this,  the  patient  stands 
in  a  relation  somewhat  like  that  in  which  we  would 
conceive  an  intelligent  animal  to  stand  that  hears  well 
enough  the  language  of  the  people  about  him,  but 
does  not  understand  it.  The  patient  cannot  properly 
be  compared  to  a  well  person  that  hears  a  foreign 
language,  since  the  latter  when  the  name  of  an  object 
is  told  him  retains  the  same  ;  but  not  so  a  person  suf- 
fering from  aphasia.  As  Kussmaul  pointed  out,  these 
forms  of  aphasia  prove  that  the  locality  of  the  brain 
with  which  the  sensation  of  the  sounds  of  single 
vowels  and  consonants  is  connected,  is  a  different  one 
from  that  in  which  an  acoustical  word-image  is  appre- 
hended as  the  symbol  of  a  concept." 

"  No  case  has  come  to  my  knowledge,"  Professor 
Exner  continues,  "in  which  this  '  word-deafness  ' 
has  not  also  been  combined  with  '  word-blindness ' ; 
that  is  to  say,  if  a  patient  has  lost  the  power  to 
associate  the  words  he  has  heard  with  their  proper 
ideas,  he  is  also  unable  to  do  this  with  written  words, 
although  he  may  be  able  to  see  as  well  as  a  person  in 
the  normal  condition.*  In  this,  and  in  many  another 
connection,  the  case  of  Lordat  has  acquired  much 
interest  and  celebrity.  Lordat,  who  was  himself  pro- 
fessor of  medicine,  suffered  several  months  from  apha- 
sia, and  afterwards  explained  in  detail  the  condition 
in  which  he  found  himself  during  this  period  of  ill- 
ness. 

"  In  the  same  way  that  the  understanding  for  spoken 
and  written  words  can  be  lost,  so  can  the  power  of 
comprehension  of  figures.  An  accountant  was  able 

*  Yet  cases  are  known,  as  mentioned  above,  in  which  a  paralysis  of  speech 
is  not  connected  with  a  paralysis  of  writing  or  making  oneself  understood  by 
signs.  For  an  instance  of  aphasia  not  accompanied  by  agraphia  see  infra 
the  case  of  the  young  clerk,  (p.  179). 


178  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

to  read  the  number  766  figure  for  figure,  but  did  not 
know  what  it  meant  that  the  figure  7  stood  before  the 
two  6's.  So  the  understanding  of  written  musical 
notes  can  be  lost,  although  the  patient  be  still  able  to 

play  well  by  ear. 

* 
*  * 

"  In  a  second  form  of  aphasia  it  is  impossible  for 
the  patient  to  clothe  the  results  of  his  thoughts  in  words 
[mentioned  above  under  (4)],  whether  it  be  to  utter 
the  same  or  to  put  them  in  writing.  In  most  cases 
of  this  kind  the  word  is  simply  forgotten.  If  it 
be  told  the  patient,  he  can  repeat  it  and  even  write  it, 
but  immediately  forgets  it  again.  By  reason  of  the 
last  circumstance  this  form  of  aphasia  is  easily  dis- 
tinguishable from  that  first  mentioned. 

•  "It  is  striking  that  at  times  only  single  words  or  only 
nouns,  very  frequently  names,  disappear  from  the 
memory  and  are  not  again  to  be  acquired.  It  also 
comes  to  pass  that  only  parts  of  words  are  forgotten. 

"  Thus,  Graves  tells  of  a  case,  where  a  man,  six- 
ty-five years  of  age,  after  an  apoplectic  fit  forgot  all  the 
proper  names  and  substantives  he  knew  but  still  re- 
collected their  initial  letters.  He  accordingly  compiled 
an  alphabetically  arranged  dictionary  of  the  substan- 
tives necessary  for  purposes  of  ordinary  intercourse, 
and  whenever  in  conversation  an  object  occurred  to 
him  that  he  wanted  to  speak  about  he  looked  it  up  in  his 
dictionary.  If  he  wanted  to  say  Cow  for  instance,  he 
looked  up  his  word  under  C.  So  long  as  he  saw  the 
printed  name  with  his  eye  he  could  speak  it,  a  moment 
afterwards  he  would  be  unable  to  do  so. 

"  The  extent  to  which  the  impairment  may  be  modi- 
fied and  limited  in  the  field  of  language,  appears  from 
a  case  of  Lasegue,  who  came  across  a  musician  who  was 


LOCALIZATION'.  179 

totally  aphasic  and  agraphic,  but  could  take  down  in 
notes  a  tune  that  he  had  heard. 

"A  third  form  of  aphasia  is  characterized  by  the 
circumstance  that  the  patient  is  able  to  clothe  his 
thoughts  in  words  but  is  not  able  to  bring  about  the 
central  innervations  necessary  to  the  utterance  of  the 
same  [referred  to  above  as  process  (5)].  That  the  pa- 
tients execute  mental  operations  and  also  clothe  the 
results  of  the  same  in  words,  appears  with  certainty 
from  the  fact  that  they  are  able  to  write  them  down. 
On  the  other  hand  they  are  also  unable  to  repeat  words 
spoken  to  them,  and  in  their  efforts  to  do  this  they 
show  that  the  different  parts  of  the  mouth  are  able  to 
execute  voluntary  movements — they  distort  their 
mouth  and  twist  the  tongue  about,  but  produce  only 
inarticulate  sounds. 

"  '  A  vigorous  young  clerk  in  an  attack  of  unconsciousness  had 
lost  completely  the  power  of  speech  ;  no  other  pathological  symp- 
toms appearing.  He  executed  with  facility  all  movements  of 
tongue  and  lips.  As  his  duties  were  such  that  they  could  be  at- 
tended to  with  the  pen,  he  kept  his  position.  He  gave  his  phy- 
sician a  carefully  prepared  account  of  his  affliction.' 

"  With  these  patients  it  is  not  a  question  of  inabil- 
ity to  find  the  innervations  for  certain  letters  as  such, 
but  the  difficulty  is  with  the  words,  which  they  are 
powerless  to  form.  That  this  is  true  will  appear  from 
the  fact  that  many  patients  with  whom  a  remnant  of 
speech  has  stillremained  (and  who,  therefore,  are  still 
able  to  utter  single  words,  or  it  may  be  mutilated 
words),  although  they  have  the  power  to  speak  a  word 
yet  cannot  speak  that  word  when  a  syllable  has  been 
left  out  or  the  order  of  the  syllables  changed,  nor  enun- 
ciate a  syllable  when  the  order  of  the  letters  has  been 
changed  ;  for  instance,  if  a  patient  can  pronounce  only 


i8o  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  syllable  tan,  he  is  in  that  case  unable  to  say 
nat.  Secondly,  this  will  appear  from  the  fact,  that  a 
patient  who  has  command  of  a  few  words  will  be  able 
to  pronounce  a  certain  letter  in  one  word  and  not  in 
another. 

"  The  following  case  of  a  patient  Le  Long — taken 
from  Broca — will  serve  as  an  illustration  of  the  con- 
dition last  described  as  well  as  of  cases  of  incomplete 
aphasia.  '  Le  Long  had  command  of  only  fi-,Te  words, 
which  he  would  add  by  way  of  supplement  to  the  ex- 
pressive gestures  he  usually  employed  ;  they  were  out, 
non,  tots  (for  trots^,  toujours,  and  Le  Lo  (for  Le  Long) 
— three  complete  words,  accordingly,  and  two  muti- 
lated ones.  With  his  auihe  expressed  affirmation,  with 
non  negation  ;  with  tois  he  expressed  numerical  con- 
cepts of  all  degrees,  being  able  to  indicate  by  a  dex- 
terous employment  of  his  fingers  the  number  he  had 
in  mind  j  with  Le  Lo  he  denoted  himself  ;  toujours  he 
used  when  he  was  unable  to  express  his  thoughts  by 
the  aid  of  the  other  words  he  commanded.  Le  Long 
pronounced  the  r  in  toujours  correctly,  but  omitted  it 
in  trois,  as  children  do  that  have  not  yet  overcome  the 
difficulty  of  uniting  the  r  with  the  preceding  / ;  he 
had  lost  beyond  recall  this  knack  of  articulation.  The 
nasal  sound  that  he  articulated  in  non  he  could  not 
give  to  the  last  letters  of  his  own  name.' 

"It  is  also  a  remarkable  phenomenon,  that  patients 
who  ordinarily  have  command  of  only  a  few  words, 
in  moments  of  excitement  bring  out  and  perfectly 
articulate  more,  and  sometimes  even  ejaculate  a  very 
long  oath.  Jackson  reports,  that  aphasic  patients  who 
are  unable  to  answer  « No '  to  ordinary  questions, 
suddenly  find  the  power  of  utterance  of  this  negation 


LOCALIZATION.  181 

when  aroused  to  it  by  ridiculous  questions — as  <  if  they 
are  a  hundred  years  old.' 


* 

* 


"The  processes  that  we  have  spoken  of  up  to  this 
point,  the  disturbances  of  which  lead  to  aphasia  proper, 
take  place  in  the  cortex.  If  the  conduction  towards 
the  muscles  of  the  innervations  properly  induced  in 
the  cortex  is  impaired,  the  power  of  speech  is  also 
naturally  affected  ;  the  language  of  the  patient  be- 
comes forced,  letters  are  omitted,  the  patient  stut- 
ters, lisps,  and  at  last  becomes  completely  unintellig- 
ible ;  yet  this  is  not  a  case  of  aphasia.  [This  is 
paralysis  of  speech.]  These  disturbances  of  the  paths 
of  conduction  may  be  effected  in  the  medullary  matter 
of  the  cerebral  hemispheres  ;  most  frequently,  how- 
ever, they  must  be  sought  in  the  nerve-nuclei  of  the 
medulla  oblongata,  especially  in  the  nucleus  of  the 
hypoglossus  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  facialis  accessorius 
and  of  the  vago-accessorius. 

"As  regards  now  the  localization,  of  the  functions 
of  speech  in  the  cortex,  this  is  a  question  that  has 
been  so  frequently  discussed  during  the  past  few 
decades,  that  it  is  impossible  in  this  place  to  give  a 
complete  presentation  of  the  views  and  arguments 
that  have  been  held  and  propounded  for  and  against 
the  same.  We  must  confine  ourselves  to  a  review  of 
the  results  that  may  be  derived  with  certainty  from  the 
experiments  of  pathologists. 

"The  view  at  present  held  with  regard  to  the  posi- 
tion and  extent  of  the  cortical  province  of  speech,  is 
based  upon  innumerable  data  derived  from  dissections 
of  the  brains  of  aphasic  patients.  It  has  gradually 
arisen  through  the  comparison  and  co-operative  com- 
pletion of  the  experiments  of  various  investigators. 


1 82  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

"The  first  after  Gall  to  assign  to  language  a  prov- 
ince in  the  brain  was  Bouillaud,  whose  theories  were 
based  upon  observations  and  the  data  of  dissection  : 
Bouillaud  fixed  the  seat  of  articulation  of  words  in  the 
frontal  lobes.  He  did  not  succeed  however,  despite 
a  struggle  continued  through  many  years,  in  establish- 
ing this  idea,  manifestly  in  consequence  of  the  mis- 
credit  that  it  awakened  by  reason  of  its  similarity  to 
Gall's  views.  This  was  also  the  fortune  of  M.  Dax 
and  of  his  son  G.  Dax,  who  endeavored  to  prove  by 
the  help  of  a  rich  collection  of  pathological  cases,  that 
disturbances  of  speech  regularly  occur  upon  lesions  of 
the  left  hemisphere  but  not  upon  lesions  of  the  right. 
A  reversion  of  the  general  opinion  set  in  when,  in  the 
year  1861,  Broca,  originally  an  opponent  of  Bouillaud, 
adopted  the  doctrines  of  the  latter  in  all  their  principal 
points,  and  more  accurately  fixed  them  by  affirming 
that  it  was  the  gyrus  frontalis  inferior  sinister  which 
must  remain  unimpaired  if  the  power  of  speech  is  to 
be  retained.  The  circumstance  that  it  is  the  left  hemi- 
sphere in  whose  province  the  special  function  of  lan- 
guage belongs,  he  later  brought  into  connection  with 
the  fact,  that  people  as  a  rule  employ  this  hemisphere 
more, as  well  for  mechanical  operations  as  in  writing, 
all  of  which  is  done  by  preference  with  the  right  hand. 

"  From  that  time  on,  the  doctrine  of  the  localiza- 
tion of  the  function  of  speech  became  almost  generally 
accepted,  and  the  only  question  then  before  scientists 
was,  to  determine  with  greater  precision,  by  means  of 
new  and  thoroughly  examined  cases,  the  territorial 
limits  of  this  function,  its  individual  deviations,  and 
the  conditions  of  preference  of  the  left  hemisphere. 

"  The  posterior  part  of  the  gyrus  frontalis  inferior 
sinister  and  the  island  of  Reil  of  the  left  side,  must  be 


LOCALIZATION.  183 

regarded  as  the  actual  cortical  province  of  speech  :  it 
is  exceptional  that  lesions  of  these  parts  do  not  pro- 
duce disturbances  of  speech.  On  the  other  hand, 
disturbances  of  speech  sometimes  occur  even  when 
the  lesion  does  not  affect  either  of  these  two  cortical 
regions.  But  in  these  cases  the  lesions  are  almost 
always  in  the  adjacent  portions  of  the  cortex.  It  is 
manifest  that,  in  such  exceptional  cases,  we  have  to 
do  with  important  individual  deviations,  and  that  the 
cortical  province,  as  it  must  be  inferred  for  other  rea- 
sons, is  not  the  same  in  all  persons. 

' 'There  is  a  very  great  number  of  cases  which 
sufficiently  demonstrate  the  part  played  by  the  left  in- 
ferior convolution  ;  I  shall  cite  here  but  a  very  strik- 
ing one,  reported  by  Simon.  By  a  fall  from  a  horse, 
as  was  found  out  from  a  section  afterwards  made,  a 
man  had  driven  a  splinter  of  bone  from  the  roof  of  the 
skull  into  the  convolution  in  question.  No  other  in- 
jury to  the  skull  was  discoverable.  The  man  had 
arisen  immediately  after  his  fall,  and  was  about  to 
mount  his  horse  again,  when  a  physician  who  accom- 
panied him  asked  that  he  submit  to  an  examination. 
No  symptoms  of  disease  whatsoever,  except  speech- 
lessness,  were  noticeable.  He  was  able  to  communi- 
cate, however,  by  signs.  He  died  later  in  consequence 
of  inflammatory  affections  which  followed  the  injury 
to  the  brain. 

"According  to  statistics  compiled  by  Lohmeyer, 
in  every  fifty-three  cases  of  aphasia  there  are  about 
thirty-four  in  which  the  left  inferior  frontal  convolu- 
tion is  either  alone  the  actual  seat  of  disease  or  some- 
how stands  in  connection  with  it. 


1 84  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

"The  remarkable  fact  that  in  the  production  of 
speech  the  left  hemisphere  is  so  much  more  directly 
engaged  than  the  right,  is  firmly  established  :  Seguin 
calculated,  from  a  collection  of  two  hundred  and  sixty 
reports  of  cases  of  this  type,  that  the  number  of  in- 
stances in  which  aphasia  arises  from  lesion  on  the 
left  side,  stands  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  those 
in  which  impairments  occur  on  the  right  side,  as 
14-3  :i  ;  with  reference  to  which  it  must  be  remarked 
that — as  has  been  shown  by  other  calculations — no 
deception  is  here  caused  by  the  possible  circumstance 
that  in  general  more1  injuries  occur  on  the  left  side 
than  on  the  right. 

"This  fact,  which  does  not  wholly  agree  with  the 
ideas  that  we  are  accustomed  to  entertain  of  the  cor- 
tical functions  in  general,  we  must  accept  as  such, 
and  seek  only  an  incomplete  analogy  in  the  circum- 
stance referred  to  by  Broca,  that  our  left  hemisphere 
must  be  more  skillful  and  more  practiced  in  the  ex- 
ecution of  mechanical  operations  than  the  right.  An 
incomplete  analogy,  we  say,  by  reason  of  the  fact  that 
the  direct  innervations  of  the  right  hand  are  effected 
unilaterally  by  the  left  hemisphere,  the  innervations 
of  the  muscles  of  speech,  on  the  other  hand,  take 
place  bilaterally. 

"  But  to  a  certain  extent  the  analogy  holds.  If  as 
the  result  of  early  lesions,  or  from  birth,  the  motory 
cortical  province  of  the  right  arm  is  lacking,  the  indi- 
viduals thus  affected  train  the  left  arm — that  is  the 
right  hemisphere — to  perform  mechanical  tasks.  Cases 
to  this  effect  have  been  reported  by  Moneau,  Kuss- 
maul,  and  others.  The  same,  we  must  presume,  holds 
good  of  language.  Also  in  two  cases  on  record,  the  dis- 
turbance of  the  cortical  province  of  speech  dated  from 


LOCALIZATION.  185 

childhood ;  and  the  fact  that  notwithstanding  this 
these  people  could  speak  well,  is  undoubtedly  only  to 
be  interpreted  in  the  following  way,  that  the  island, 
the  lowest  frontal  convolution,  etc.  of  the  right  hemi- 
sphere had  taken  charge  of  the  functions  of  language. 

"In  this  connection  a  case  reported  by  Schwarz 
is  of  interest.  In  a  well-developed  three-year  old  girl, 
during  convalescence  from  measles,  speechlessness 
with  partial  paralysis  of  the  right  arm  suddenly  set  in. 
The  lesion  accordingly  lay  in  the  left  hemisphere. 
The  condition  of  the  patient  improved,  yet  the  girl 
had  to  learn  to  talk  again  from  the  very  beginning,, 
and  in  so  doing  acted  like  the  normal  child  that  is 
learning  to  speak. 

"The  left  side,  accordingly,  does  not  exercise  the 
exclusive  prerogative  of  the  superintendence  of  speech. 

"The  analogy  is  still  further  applicable.  It  ap- 
pears that  so-called  left-handed  individuals,  who  as 
contrasted  with  the  majority  of  men  have  trained  their 
right  and  not  their  left  hemisphere  to  perform  mechan- 
ical work,  also  employ  their  right  hemisphere  in 
speech.  Pye  Smith,  Jackson,  and  John  Ogle,  Mongie, 
Russel,  and  Wm.  Ogle  have  observed  cases  that  ap- 
pear to  substantiate  this.  Left-handed  people,  namely, 
had  become  aphasic  through  lesions  on  the  right  side 
of  the  brain,  and — a  fact  which  proves  more — where  in 
a  collection  which  Wm.  Ogle  made  of  one  hundred 
cases  of  aphasia  there  were  three  left-handed  men,  in 
the  case  of  each  the  lesion  affected  the  right  hemi- 
sphere." 


1 86  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


v. 
EXPERIMENTS  UPON  ANIMALS. 

IT  is  a  strange  fact  that  the  hemispheres  as  well  as 
the  corpus  striatum  exhibit  no  sensitiveness  to  pain 
whatever.  They  can  be  cut,  irritated,  or  maltreated  in 
any  way  without  causing  direct  suffering. 

Experiments  have  been  made  to  deprive  animals 
(mostly  pigeons,  hens,  and  frogs,  but  also  dogs)  of 
their  entire  hemispheres.  A  pigeon  without  its  hemi- 
spheres stands  firmly  on  its  feet  if  only  the  cerebellum 
remains  unimpaired,  but  has  lost  all  signs  of  intelli- 
gence. It  behaves  as  if  it  were  asleep.  It  will  stand 
quietly  in  one  place  for  hours  and  hours. 

A  brainless  pigeon  is  without  clear  consciousness 
because  it  has  lost  all  the  memories  to  which  sensory 
irritations  may  be  referred.  Yet  it  is  not  entirely  void 
of  feeling.  The  sensory  and  motory  nerves  perform 
their  functions  as  usual,  and  with  perfect  harmony. 
The  pigeon  "quivers  if  a  pistol  is  shot  off  near  by  ; 
its  eye  winks  at  the  approach  of  a  flame,  and  the  pu- 
pils contract.  It  turns  away  from  ammonia  vapor" 
(Landois).  Its  consciousness  however,  if  conscious- 
ness it  can  be  called,  is  limited  to  the  moment  and  to 
that  one  sense-impression  which  takes  place  at  the 
moment.  This  sense-impression  remains  isolated,  it 
cannot  be  compared  with  former  memories.  Thus  it 
remains  ununderstood,  and  is  quickly  forgotten. 

Hens  endure  the  operation  better  than  other  birds. 
For  a  few  hours,  they  lie  exhausted  ;  then  they  rise 
and  remain  in  a  sitting  posture.  Again,  after  hours, 
they  walk  about,  scratch  the  floor  of  the  room,  and  af- 
ter a  few  days  they  begin  pecking  for  food,  although 


LOCALIZATION.  187 

there  may  be  nothing  on  the  ground.  Some  hens 
learn  again  to  eat  and  drink,  if  water  and  food  is  put 
into  their  bills,  arid  thus  can  be  kept  alive  as  living 
automatons  for  several  months.  (See  Exner  in  Her- 
mann's "Physiologic,"  Vol.  II,  Part  II,  p.  199.) 

Frogs  preserve  perfectly  their  equilibrium  after  re- 
moval of  their  hemispheres.  If  turned  on  their  back, 
they  will  rise  to  their  feet  If  irritated,  they  will  make 
two  or  three  jumps,  with  a  view  to  escaping.  If 
thrown  into  water,  they  will  swim  until  they  touch  the 
wall  of  the  basin  ;  then  they  will  creep  up  on  the 
edge,  where  they  remain.  In  all  motions  producible 
as  direct  reflexes  upon  their  proper  irritations,  they 
show  a  perfect  mastery  of  their  limbs  and  harmony  of 
movement.  Yet  without  irritation  there  is  no  motion; 
there  is  no  spontaneous  voluntary  action  whatever.  A 
brainless  frog,  if  left  to  itself,  will  remain  quietly  on 
the  spot  where  it  has  been  placed,  as  if  asleep  ;  it 
will  take  no  food,  betrays  no  consciousness  of  hunger 
or  thirst,  shows  no  sign  of  fear,  and  unless  artificially 
fed,  will  in  time  dry  up  like  a  mummy. 

That  which  in  animals  and  in  man  appears  to  us  as 
spontaneous  and  voluntary  motion,  is  the  result  of 
cerebration  among  the  memory-pictures  of  the  cortex, 
acting,  as  we  suppose,  in  co-operation  with  the  cor- 
pora striata.  When  the  memory-pictures  have  been 
removed,  an  animal  is  unable  to  act  except  in  response 
to  sensory  impressions,  that  is  by  direct  reflex-mo- 
tions. 

* 
*  * 

Goltz  invented  a  new  method  to  remove  the  hemi- 
spheres of  animals,  which  has  the  advantage  of  caus- 
ing less  irritation  than  the  scraping  them  out  with  a 
knife  or  a  sharpened  spoon.  He  injected  through 


1 88  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

small  apertures  in  the  skull  a  jet  of  cold  water,  and 
thus  succeeded  in  washing  out  the  cortex  without  in- 
juring other  parts.  Goltz  distinguishes  two  kinds  of 
effects  :  those  which  after  some  time  pass  away  and 
those  which  remain  for  good.  The  former  are  mere 
temporary  disturbances,  while  the  latter  alone  can  be 
considered  as  a  loss  of  functions  which  have  their  seat 
in  the  removed  parts. 

A  dog  that  has  been  deprived  of  the  greatest  part 
of  his  cortex  is,  as  Goltz  expresses  it,  an  extremely 
complex  reflex-mechanism  that  eats  {fressende  Rcftcx- 
maschine).  He  behaves  like  a  perfect  idiot,  walks 
slowly  and  awkwardly,  with  the  head  downwards.  His 
sense  of  touch  all  over  the  skin  is  obtuse.  He  shows 
a  lack  of  information  concerning  the  surrounding  world 
and  his  own  body  which  is  mainly  noticeable  when  he 
is  fed.  He  sees,  but  like  a  sleep-walker  who  avoids 
obstacles  without  being  aware  of  what  they  are.  He 
hears,  for  he  can  be  roused  from  his  sleep  by  loud 
calls,  but  he  hears  like  a  man  who  is  but  half-awak- 
ened from  a  profound  sleep  and  has  not  as  yet  recov- 
ered his  full  consciousness.  The  disturbances  of  all 
the  other  senses  are  analogous.  He  howls  when  hungry, 
but  does  not  search  for  food.  If  fed,  he  eats  until  his 
stomach  is  full.  He  shows  no  indications  of  sexual 
instinct,  and  is  generally  without  any  interest  or  sym- 
pathy. 

VI. 

MEYNERT'S    THREE    SYSTEMS    OF   PROJECTION 
AND  PSYCHICAL  ACTIVITY. 

THE  motory  as  well  as  sensory  centres  of  the  hemi- 
spheres must  be  considered  as  psychical  regions;  that 


LOCALIZATION.  189 

is,  they  are  the  places  in  which  the  action  of  the  nerv- 
ous mechanism  may  be  and  often  is  accompanied  with 
consciousness.  This  is  corroborated  by  the  fact  that 
an  irritation  of  these  regions  does  not  produce  the 
usual  result  in  new-born  animals  ;  their  psychic  activity 
is  not  as  yet  developed  and  a  few  fibres  only  are  dif- 
ferentiated in  the  white  nerve-substance  of  their  hemi- 
spheric region.  In  further  support  of  this  the  circum- 
stance can  be  adduced  (according  to  Schiff),  that  these 
cortical  centres  cease  to  work  if  the  animal  manipu- 
lated upon  is  kept  under  the  influence  of  chloroform 
or  other  narcotics. 

Consciousness  is  the  most  complex  and  concen- 
trated form  of  feeling.  Feelings,  we  can  fairly  assume, 
may  take  place  in  all  the  innumerable  cells  of  our  body 
so  long  as  they  are  alive.  But  these  feelings  are  ex- 
tremely weak  and  by  far  the  greater  part  remains  iso- 
lated. Feelings,  we  assume,  depend  upon  a  special 
form  of  activity  in  animal  substance.  The  sensory 
fibres  of  the  nervous  system  are  a  mechanism  con- 
structed to  co-ordinate  and  concentrate  the  various 
feelings;  while  the  motor  fibres  co-ordinate  the  r^eflex- 
activity  in  such  a  way  that  it  may  be  subservient  to, 
that  is,  it  may  act  upon  irritations  received  from  cer- 
tain co-ordinated  centres  of  feeling.  The  final  con- 
centration of  both  activities,  sensory  as  well  as  motory, 
takes  place  in  the  hemispheric  region  and  it  is  in  this 
final  concentration  that  consciousness  is  produced. 

Meynert  considers  the  whole  nervous  mechanism  of 
man  as  "  three  superordinated  systems  of  projection." 
The  first  or  highest  system  of  projection  is  the  corona 
radiata,  comprising  all  those  tracts  which  connect 
the  hemispheric  ganglions,  the  thalamus,  and  the  Four 
Hills.  As  the  second  system  of  projection  Meynert 

• 


LOCALIZATION'.  191 


MEYNERT'S  REPRESENTATION  OF  THE  NERVOUS  SYSTEM. 

(After  Meynert's  investigations  ;  reproduced  from  Hermann's  Physiology, 
Vol.  II,  part  II,  p.  303,) 

C.    Cortex  of  hemispheres. 

L,    Lenticular  body. 

S.    Tailed  body  (nucleus  caudatus). 

L.  and  S  are  the  hemispheric  ganglions,  called  Striped  Body. 

T.    Thalamus. 

V.     Four  Hills. 

JR.    Olfactory  nerve  (RiecJi-Kotteri). 

A.  Eye. 

K.     Small  Brain  or  Cerebellum. 

B.  Brachium  ad  Cerebellum.    (Bindearnt.)   Tracts  connecting  the  Small 
Brain  with  the  hemispheres. 

hW.    Posterior  (sensory)  roots  of  spinal  cord, 

vW.    Anterior  (motory)  roots  of  spinal  cord. 

MM.    Two  sections  of  the  Medulla  in  the  spinal  cord. 

/.  /.  Voluntary  motor  tracts,  passing  into  the  lenticular  L  and  tailed  bod- 
ies S,  whence  they  issue  downwards.  They  form  part  of  the  crus  cerebri  cross- 
ing over  to  the  other  side  in  the  inferior  pyramidal  decussation  («.  P.),  and 
descend  to  their  respective  anterior  roots  in  the  spinal  cord. 

2.  2.    Involuntary  motor  tracts.  They  pass  from  the  cortex  into  the  Thala- 
mus 7"and  the  Four  Hills  V,  whence  they  issue  downward  to  their  anterior 
roots  forming  part  of  the  tegmentum.     If  there  is  any  decussation  in  these  in- 
voluntary tracts,  it  can  take  place  in  the  spinal  cord  only  as  indicated  in  the 
dotted  lines  near  /. 

3.  3.    Sensory  tracts,  crossing  to  the  other  side  and  forming  the  superior 
pyramidal  decussation,  in  oP. 

4.  4.    Optic  tracts. 

5.  j.     Olfactory  tracts. 

6.  6.     Cerebellar  tracts  of  B. 

7.  7.    Commissural  fibres,  connecting  both  hemispheres. 

8.  8.    Commissural  fibres  interconnecting  the  different  provinces  of  one 
hemisphere. 


1 92  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

describes  the  course  of  fibres  from  the  great  ganglions 
(viz.,  thalamus,  Four  Hills,  and  corpus  striatum)  to 
the  central  gray  substance  which  forms  the  walls  of 
the  aquaductus  Sylvii  and  the  bottom  of  the  fourth 
ventricle. 

In  the  accompanying  diagram  representing  Mey- 
nert's  view  of  the  nervous  system,  the  lines  connecting 
T  (thalamus)  with  v  W  (anterior  root  of  spinal  cord) 
are  paths  of  reflex  motions  descending  from  the  thala- 
mus. Their  presence  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  after 
the  destruction  of  the  voluntary  motor  tracts  an  in- 
voluntary mobility  is  preserved  which  can  be  produced 
through  simple  reflex- action  so  long  as  the  thalamus 
remains  unimpaired. 

The  third  system  of  projection  are  the  fibres  below 
the  central  gray  substance,  namely  the  motor  and  sen- 
sory nerves  which  connect  this  part  of  the  nervous 
system  with  the  periphery. 

The  cerebellum  forms  a  central  organ  of  its  own, 
being  in  connection  with  the  hemispheres,  the  pons, 
and  the  medulla. 

Every  system  of  projection  from  the  most  periph- 
eral to  the  most  central,  from  the  third  to  the  first,  is 
a  further  concentration  of  feelings  and  of  their  corres- 
ponding motor  reflexes.  The  first  system,  which  is  the 
highest  and  most  centralized,  is  alone  the  seat  of  con- 
sciousness. Accordingly  no  feeling,  no  sensation,  nor 
any  motion,  can  become  conscious  unless  it  be  pro- 
jected into  the  hemispheric  region.  All  sensory  irrita- 
tions which  do  not  rise  into,  and  all  motory  reflexes 
which  do  not  originate  from  this  highest  region — re- 
main unconscious. 

We  say  that  no  nerve-activity  except  that  which  is 
projected  into,  or  takes  place  in,  the  hemispheres  can 


LOCALIZATION.  193 

become  conscious ;  but  we  do  not  say  that  all  the 
nervous  activity  of  the  hemispheres  does  become  con- 
scious. Many  most  complex  actions,  motions  as  well 
as  sensations,  and  even  long  chains  of  logical  reason- 
ing, which  can  have  their  seat  in  the  cortical  substance 
only,  are  performed  unconsciously.  Accordingly,  it 
is  but  a  small  part  of  the  cerebral  activity  that  enters 
into  consciousness.  Only  the  mountain  peaks  of  cere- 
bral nerve-activity,  if  they  rise  through  a  process  of 
further  co-ordination  above  the  great  mass  of  sub- 
conscious states,  are  illumined  by  a  glow  of  concen- 
trated feeling  or  consciousness. 

Meynert's  investigations  have  been  modified  of  late 
by  Wernicke,*  in  so  far  as  Wernicke  demonstrates 
that  the  Shell  (putamen)  of  the  lenticular  body  and 
the  nucleus  caudatus  do  not  receive  fibres  from  the 
corona  radiata.  They  form  no  intermediate  stations 
between  the  hemispheres  and  the  periphery.  This 
function  has  to  be  limited  to  the  inner  stripes  of  the 
nucleus  lentiformis  (which  are  called  the  globus  pal- 
lidus).  The  Shell  forms  a  terminus  of  its  own  quite 
analogous  to  the  cortical  region. 

We  have  some  reasons  to  believe  that  the  Striped 
Body,  in  its  terminal  structures  in  the  Shell  and  Cau- 
date Body,  performs  a  special  and  most  important 
function  of  cerebral  activity.  This,  it  appears,  can 
only  be  the  function  of  consciousness.  Whether  our 
hypothesis  is  justified  or  not,  we  must  leave  to  those 
who  are  competent  to  judge.  We  shall  in  the  follow- 
ing chapter  explain  the  reasons  that  have  suggested 
the  proposition  of  our  theory,  and  shall  be  glad  if 
specialists  will  take  the  matter  in  hand  and  give  their 
opinion  as  to  its  tenability. 

*  Wernicke.    Lehrbuck  der  Gehirnkrankheiten,  Cassel,  1881. 


194  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


VII. 

THE  SEAT  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS. 

WHEN  unable  to  go  to  sleep,  we  try  to  force  our- 
selves to  do  so  by  inhibiting  all  thoughts;  we  attempt,  as 
it  were,  to  empty  consciousness  of  all  its  contents.  Yet 
this  is  very  difficult,  for  as  soon  as  one  thought  has  been 
suppressed,  another  makes  its  appearance  ;  and  if  this 
second  thought  is  refused  admittance  a  third  one 
succeeds  in  forcing  its  entrance.  A  constant  battle 
has  to  be  waged  to  keep  down  all  mental  activity. 
Thoughts,  pictures  or  abstract  concepts,  and  memo- 
ries of  all  kinds  rise  again  and  again.  We  can  never 
attain  a  state  of  pure  consciousness  which  is  void  of  all 
contents.  When  we  succeed  in  suppressing  all  mental 
activity,  we  fall  asleep.  Every  attempt  to  think  of 
nothing,  no  less  than  every  attempt  to  confine  thought 
for  any  length  of  time  strictly  to  one  monotonous  im- 
age or  idea,  is  a  kind  of  self-hypnotization. 

When  we  walk  along  on  a  road  which  exhibits  no 
noteworthy  variety  to  the  traveler,  we  may  proceed 
without  observing  anything.  We  walk  almost  uncon- 
scious of  our  movement.  Yet,  if  the  roa'd  divides  before 
us,  doubt  arises  in  our  mind  as  to  which  way  we  shall 
take.  Doubt  is  a  problem  that  requires  settlement,  and 
if  it  is  not  settled  it  causes,  so  long  as  the  doubt  lasts,  a 
state  of  tension  which  makes  us  conscious  of  the  situ- 
ation. Consciousness  is  an  intensified  state  of  feeling 
caused  through  tension.  It  lies  between  a  want  and 
its  satisfaction.  Satisfaction  not  being  immediately 
attainable,  feelings  are  no  longer  in  a  state  of  equilib- 
rium, and  it  is  this  tension  which  concentrates  and  in- 
tensifies feeling  into  consciousness. 


LOCALIZATION.  195 

It  appears  that  consciousness  never  arises  without 
a  certain  tension.  Days  spent  in  an  idyllic  life  flow 
away  almost  unconsciously ;  there  is  little  friction, 
there  are  no  problems  to  be  solved  ;  there  are  no  unsat- 
isfied wants,  or  if  there  are  any,  they  are  quickly  and 
easily  attended  to.  There  is  no  need  of  conscious- 
ness, there  is  not  much  tension  to  call  it  into  play,  so 
life  passes  dreamlike  as  a  tale  that  is  told.  The  more 
life  is  burdened  with  problems  that  demand  a  man's 
full  care  and  deliberation,  and  the  stronger  are  his  at- 
tempts to  solve  the  problems  of  his  situation,  the  more 
intense  will  his  consciousness  be. 

It  appears  to  me  very  doubtful  whether  conscious 
beings  could  exist  in  a  world — if  such  a  world  were 
possible  at  all — where  the  struggle  for  existence  was 
unknown  ;  for  it  is  the  struggle  for  existence  that  pre- 
sents the  first  and  most  imperative  problems  to  living 
and  feeling  beings. 

Man  is  a  creature  full  of  needs,  and  while  attending 
to  these  needs  he  has  developed  and  constantly  does 
develop  a  not  inconsiderable  amount  of  consciousness. 
If  he  had  no  needs  he  might  degenerate  into  a  half- 
vegetative  state  of  existence  like  that  into  which  cer- 
tain parasitic  infusoria  have  fallen,  which,  their  sole 
wants  being  fulfilled,  cease  to  exhibit  even  the  most 
general  symptoms  of  animal  life,  i.  e.,  free  motion.* 

We    may   compare    the   tension   of  consciousness 

*  "  There  is,  for  instance,  the  female  of  the  bark  louse  (Coccus)  which, 
when  fully  developed  appears  as  an  entirely  immovable  body,  not  unlike  a 
shield,  as  though  it  were  an  excrescence  on  the  leaves  of  the  plants  upon  which 
it  sits.  Its  feet  are  degenerated.  The  proboscis  of  this  creature  is  imbedded 
into  the  tissues  of  the  leaf,  the  sap  of  which  it  sucks.  The  whole  psychical 
activity  of  this  parasite  consists  in  the  pleasure  of  sucking  the  sap  and  in 
coition  with  the  males,  who  move  about.  The  same  is  true  of  the  grublike 
females  of  Strepsiptera,  who,  without  wings  and  feet,  pass  their  parasitic  lives 
immovable  in  the  bodies  of  wasps."  Translated  from  Hackel,  "Anthropoge- 
nic," p.  702. 


196  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

originating  from  an  unsatisfied  want,  to  a  vacuum. 
The  vacuum  of  such  a  want  in  man's  mind  causes 
memories  and  combinations  of  memories,  old  and  new 
ideas,  to  rush  in  in  order  to  fill  the  vacuum.  The  more 
difficult  the  satisfaction  of  a  .want  is,  the  more  con- 
sciousness and  intelligence  must  be  developed.  For 
long  chains  of  representative  feelings,  observations  of 
present  facts,  the  revival  of  memories  and  new  combi- 
nations of  memories  require  much  attention.  Every 
thought  which  has  been  attended  to  loses  its  interest, 
and  the  mental  equilibrium  is  restored,  unless  (as 
happens  usually)  the  settlement  of  one  problem  gives 
rise  to  another,  thus  producing  a  new  tension.  If  the 
vacuum  were  once  definitely  filled,  the  tension  would 
cease  to  draw  new  thoughts  into  its  sphere.  All  change 
would  be  stopped  and  a  state  of  unconsciousness  super- 
vene. 

Consciousness  and  intelligence  work  together  under 
normal  conditions,  but  both  are  quite  distinct  func- 
tions. Consciousness  is  a  concentrated  or  intensified 
feeling  which  often,  but  not  always,  accompanies  cer- 
tain motions,  sense-impressions,  and  also  intellectual 
work.  We  have  no  states  of  consciousness  tha£  are 
without  any  contents.  There  are,  however,  sense-im- 
pressions, motions,  and  intellectual  functions,  which 
are  not  accompanied  with  consciousness.  Conscious- 
ness, accordingly,  is  an  additional  element  that  some- 
times is  and  sometimes  is  not  attached  to  certain  mental 
operations. 

Considering  anatomical,  physiological,  and  psy- 
chological facts,  it  appears  as  the  easiest  explanation 
to  regard  the  Striped  Body  as  the  organ  in  which  the 
additional  element  of  consciousness  is  produced. 

The   experiments  of  physiological   psychology  by 


LOCALIZATION.  197 

Wundt,  Miinsterberg,*  and  others,  prove  that  the  paths 
of  unconscious  cerebration  are  shorter  than  those  of 
conscious  cerebration.  Mental  activity,  if  its  action, 
like  a  simple  reflex  motion,  takes  place  automatic- 
ally, passes  down  through  certain  nerve-fibres,  which 
in  their  passage  through  the  internal  capsule  do  not 
enter  into  the  Striped  Body.f  It  is  certain  that  some 
of  these  fibres  enter  the  Thalamus,  whence  they  de- 
scend to  the  anterior  roots  of  the  Medulla  oblongata. 
Mental  activity,  however,  which  is  accompanied  with 
consciousness,  must  take  a  roundabout  way.  It  needs 
more  time,  and  we  can  fairly  conclude  that  the  mech- 
anism of  its  action  is  more  complicated.  The  ques- 
tion thus  offers  itself,  whether  there  is  a  special  organ, 
the  function  of  which  produces  consciousness,  and,  if 
we  have  to  look  for  an  organ  of  consciousness,  where 
must  it  be  located? 

We  believe  that  in  the  Striped  Body,  (mainly  those 
parts  that  exhibit  an  analogous  structure  to  the  cortical 
substance,)  is  to  be  found  that  place  which  in  situ- 
ation and  anatomical  conditions  answers  best  to  all  the 
requirements  that  can  be  made  in  regard  to  an  organ 
of  consciousness.  We  suppose  that  a  motor  centre  in 
the  brain,  if  irritated,  all  conditions  being  normal, 
will  produce  motions  (as  has  been  experimentally 
proved);  but  there  are  two  possibilities  offered  :  i)  the 
reflex 'action  can  descend  directly  through  the  internal 
capsule  without  becoming  conscious,  (the  path  desig- 
nated in  Meynert's  diagram  as  2.  2.);  or,  2)  it  may  first 
enter  into  the  Striped  Body,  where  the  additional  ele- 
ment of  consciousness  is  acquired.  The  different  states 

*  See  Miinsterberg.      Beitrage  zur  Exp€rijnentellen  Psychologic,  Freiburg 
Mohr. 

t  See  Meynert's  Diagram,  2,  2,  in  the  preceding  chapter. 


i98  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

of  consciousness  will,  in  that  case,  originate  in  the 
Striped  Body.  Yet  their  nature  will  depend  upon  the 
various  nerve-structures  from  which  the  irritation  of 
the  Striped  Body  proceeds. 

For  a  consideration  of  the  merits  of  this  hypothe- 
sis we  adduce  the  latest  investigations  of  Wernicke,  a 
specialist  in  brain  diseases.  He  says  in  his  Lehrbuch 
der  Gehirn-Krankheiten: 

"  The  caudate  body  and  the  third  stripe  of  the  lenticular  body 
consist  mainly  of  the  same  finely  granulated  glia  substance  as  the 
cortex.  As  in  the  cortex,  so  here  between  the  ganglionic  cells  are 
found  large  masses  of  pure  gray  substance.  The  fibres  rising 
therefrom  are,  although  medullary,  of  extremely  fine  tissue.  It  is 
for  this  reason  that  the  fibres  of  the  caudate  body  in  their  passage 
through  the  white  substance  of  the  internal  capsule  are  marked  as 
reddish  tracts,  a  circumstance  that  makes  it  easy  to  discover  their 
course. 

' '  The  interior  stripes  of  the  lenticular  body  possess  only 
slight,  if  any,  trace  of  these  tissues.  They  consist,  as  Meynert 
noticed,  almost  entirely  of  purely  nervous  elements,  (1.  c.,  p.  41). 

"We  must  distinguish  rigorously  between  the  third  stripe  con- 
taining the  main  mass  and  the  other  two  interior  stripes.  The  latter 
alone  can  be  considered,  as  Meynert  suggests,  as  an  intermediate 
station.  The  third  stripe  and  also  the  caudate  body  are  in  no  direct 

relation  with  the  corona  radiata Some  fibres  of  the  second 

stripe  can  be  traced  into  the  corona  radiata,  but  there  are  com- 
paratively few.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  the  two  interior  stripes 
has  no  relation  to  the  corona,  but  remains  an  internodium  of  the 
fibres  descending  from  the  third  stripe  and  the  caudate  body.  These 
two  ganglions  are  the  main  sources  of  the  radiary  fibres  in  the 

lenticular  body Thus  they  form  a  terminus  ( Ursprungsge- 

bict]  of  their  own,  analogous  to  the  cortex  for  descending  coronal 
fibres  ;  and  these  coronal  fibres  rising  in  the  caudate  body  and  [in 
the  putamen  of]  the  lenticular  body  find  an  intermediate  station  in 
the  two  internal  stripes  of  the  lenticular  body,"  (1.  c.,  p.  40). 

The  Striped  Body  is,  as  Wernicke  shows,  in  no 
direct  connection  with  the  corona  radiata.  Yet  the 
corona  radiata  is  not  the  sole  path  of  communication 


LOG  A  LIZA  TION. 


199 


possible  between  the  Striped  Body  and  the  cortex. 
There  are  other  and  more  direct  connections  of  a  more 
intimate  nature  than  can  be  afforded  by  a  system  of 
descending  fibres.  The  Striped  Bodyontogenetically 
considered  is  continuous  with  the  gray  matter  of  the 
hemispheres  and  the  connections  established  in  this 
way  are  preserved  also  in  the  stages  of  a  further  dif- 
ferentiation. 

A  clear  conception  of  the  Striped  Body  and  its 
relations  to  the  corona  radiata  as  well  as  the  cortex, 
can  be  more  easily  obtained  by  a  study  of  the  adjoined 
diagrams. 


SAGITTAL   SECTION    THROUGH    THE    BRAIN    OF   A    DOG.       (After  Wemicke.) 

The  corona  radiata  descending  into  the  internal  capsule  («'.),  sends  no  fibres 

into  the  third  stripe.  Some  fibres  appear  to  enter  the  third  stripe  ;  but  they 

do  not.  Yet  there  are  fibres  that  enter  the  first  and  especially  the  second 

stripe. 

aR.     Outer  olfactory  convolution. 

fi.    Fornix,  identical  with  Fimbria,  to  the  edge  of  the  hooked  convolution. 

nl.     Lenticular  body  with  three  stripes.     /.  //.  ///. 

nc.  Caudate  body. — th.  Thalamus. — ci.  Internal  capsule.—/]  Foot  of  the 
corona  radiata.—^.  Pes  cerebri. — o.  Optic  nerve.— sn.  Substantia  nigra. — 
l*qp.  Upper  fillet  connecting  the  thalamus  with  Posterior  Four  Hills. — cge. 
Corpus  geniculatum,  exterior  external  ganglion  of  the  optic  nerve. 


2OO 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


FRONTAL   SECTION    OF    THE    BRAIN"  OF    A    MONKEY.       (After  Wemicke.) 

Showing  the  connection  between  the  nucleus  caudatus  and  the  second  stripe 
,  of  nucleus  lentiformis. 

/.    Insula. 

cl.    Claustrum. 

ce.    External  capsule. 

t.    Corpus  callosum. 

nc.    Head  of  caudate  body. 

nci.  Tail  of  caudate  body,  continuous  with  the  temporal  process  of  the 
lenticular  body. 

/,  II,  III.    The  three  stripes  of  lenticular  body. 

o.    Optic  nerve. 

ci.     Internal  capsule. 

/.    Pes  cerebri. 

sn.     Substantia  nigra. 


INTERIOR   OF   THE    HEMISPHERE- 
VENTRICLE. 

(After  Wernicke.) 

Showing  the  close  connection  of  the 
Striped  Body  w:th  the  Hemispheres. 
The  head  and  the  tail  of  the  Striped 
body  appear  as  continuations  of  the 
cortex. 

a.  The  primitive  ventricle. 
h.  The  definitive  ventricle. 
nc.  Caudate  body. 


LOCALIZATION. 


201 


DIAGRAMMATIC  VIEW  OF  THE   FRONTAL   SECTION    OF   A   BRAIN. 

Showing  the  connections  of  the  cortex  with  the  Striped  Body. 
FS.  FN.  Connections  with  third  stripe  of  lenticular  body. 
FK.  Connection  with  caudate  body. 

(For  further  explanations  of  this  cut  see  the  chapter  "The  cortex  and  its 
Relations.") 

The  connections  between  the  Striped  Body  (especially  the  third  stripe) 
and  Hemispheres  seem  to  bear  the  character  of  commissural  assooiations. 
It  is  not  a  connection  through  coronal  fibres,  which  would  denote  that  the 
Striped  Body  is  to  be  considered  as  a  mere  internodium,  an  intermediate  sta- 
tion between  the  highest  system  of  projection  and  lower  stages.  It  is  rather  an 
independent  mechanism  attached  to  the  field  of  cerebral  activity.  Not  only 
the  anatomical  structure  of  certain  parts  of  the  Striped  Body  is  similar  to 
cortical  regions,  but  also  its  connections  bear  the  character  of  the  connections 
between  one  cortical  region  and  other  cortical  regions. 


202  7"HE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

The  Striped  Body  must  be  the  organ  of  some  brain 
activity  that  in  its  kind  forms  the  highest  terminus  in 
a  hierarchical  system  ;  judging  from  its  size  and  struc- 
ture the  Striped  Body  must  perform  an  important 
work  of  a  very  specialised  kind. 


DIAGRAMMATIC    REPRESENTATION     OF    THE     FIBRES    IN     THE     CAUDATE     AND     THE 

LENTICULAR  BODIES.     ( After  Wernicke.) 

/.  II.  III.  The  three  stripes  of  the  lenticular  body  —  nc.  Caudate  body. 
— ci.  Internal  capsule.— /..Pes  cerebri.—^.  Thalamus.—z.  Island. 

The  connections  between  the  Striped  Body  and  the 
Hemispheres,  it  seems,  bear  more  the  character  of 
commissural  associations,  which  interconnect  the  dif- 
ferent provinces  of  the  cortex.  They  are  quite  distinct 
from  the  coronal  fibres.  If  the  nature  of  these  con- 
nections were  similar  to  those  established  by  the  co- 
rona, it  would  indicate  that  the  Striped  Body  had  to 
be  considered  as  a  mere  internodium  or  intermediate 
station.  Wernicke's  investigations  indicate  that  its 
office  must  be  higher ;  they  must  rather  be  of  a  co- 
operative than  a  subordinate  nature. 

Since  certain  tracts  of  voluntary  motions  originate 
in  the  Striped  Body  (see  Meynert's  Diagram  in  the 


LOCALIZATION. 


203 


SAGITTAL    SECTION    THROUGH    THE    BRAIN    OF    A   PIG.       (After 

(Natural  Size.) 
Showing  the  course  of  fibres  in  the  internal  capsule.     The  greatest  mass  is  a 

continuation  of  the  corona  radiata,   originating   in  the  cortex.     Part  of 

these  fibres  enter  the  Thalamus,  while  the  rest  pass  directly  down  into 

the  pes  cerebri  (/).    A  great  number  of  fibres  are  plainly  seen  to  orig- 
inate in  the  Striped  Body. 

nl.     Nucleus  lentiformis— Lenticular  body. 

//,  ///.    Two  stripes  of  lenticular  body.    The  first  stripe  does  not  plainly 
appear. 

p.    Pes  cerebri. 

cr.     Corona  radiata. 

cnc.     Cauda  nuclei  caudati,  tail  of  caudate  body. 

f,     Fornix. 

th.    Thalamus. 

qa.     Anterior  of  the  four  hills. 

cge.    Corpus  geniculatum,  exterior  external  ganglion  of  optic  nerve. 

preceding  chapter),  while  the  memories  of  these  mo- 
tions must  have  their  seats  in  the  motor  region  round 
the  fissure  Rolandi,  (see  Ferrier's  Diagram  in  the 
chapter  "  Motory  and  Sensory  Centres")  we  assume 
that  the  additional  element  which  changes  unconscious 
motions  into  voluntary  acts  of  conscious  motions,  is  a 
function  taking  place  in  the  Striped  Body. 


204  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

VIII. 
CONSCIOUSNESS  AND  INTELLIGENCE. 

The  cortical  activity  is  generally  supposed  to  rep- 
resent the  terminus  of  Meynert's  three  systems  of 
projection ;  and  it  is  at  the  same  time  said  to  be  the 
place  in  which  the  activity  of  soul-life  becomes  con- 
scious. Yet  this  great  and  wide  area  of  gray  matter 
cannot  properly  constitute  the  central  seat  or  organ  of 
consciousness;  it  represents  rather  the  store-house  of 
old  experiences  ;  it  is  the  seat  of  intelligence. 

Intelligence,  physiologically  expressed,  is  a  great 
wealth  of  well-associated,  i.  e.  well-interconnected 
and  systematized,  memory-structures.  Consciousness 
and  intelligence  are  not  identical.  We  know  for  cer- 
tain that  intelligence  and  consciousness  are  radically 
different.  Long  chains  of  logical  reasoning  may  take 
place  without  any  consciousness.  We  may  also,  and 
often  we  do,  unconsciously  execute  most  complex 
movements  that  are  expressive  of  intelligence  in  so 
far  as  they  adapt  themselves  to  special  circumstances. 
In  jumping,  if  we  have  any  practice,  we  measure 
with  our  eyes  correctly  any  given  distance,  and  the 
motions  of  our  limbs  will  be  exactly  adapted  to  the  oc- 
casion ;  and  yet  does  this  process  of  judgment  only  in 
rare  cases  enter  into  consciousness.  Word-memories 
have  unquestionably  their  seat  in  the  cortex,  and  yet 
there  are  many  instances  where  fervid  oratory  flows 
from  the  lips  of  a  speaker  with  unconscious  ease. 
Similar  acts  of  unconscious  mental  activity  are  per- 
formed in  all  kinds  of  gymnastic  exercises,  by  piano 
player.s,  and  in  innumerable  other  ways.  While  writ- 


LOG  A  LIZA  TION.  205 

ing  an  author  spells  correctly  without  being  in  the 
least  aware  of  it ;  and  indeed  all  conscious  thought  is 
everywhere  permeated  by,  interlaced  with,  and,  as  it 
were,  carried  on  the  pinions  of,  the  activity  of  uncon- 
scious intelligence. 

The  function  of  consciousness  consists  in  a  certain 
strong  stimulation  of  the  different  ideas  registered  in  the 
hemispheres.  The  nervous  battery  which  discharges 
these  irritations,  causing  thereby  now  in  this  now  in 
that  part  of  the  cortex  an  increase  of  blood  circulation, 
we  have  called  the  seat  of  consciousness.  Accordingly 
consciousness,  physiologically  considered,  would  be  the 
effect  of  this  nervous  battery  upon  those  nervous 
structures  with  which  at  the  time  it  stands  in  connec- 
tion. 

The  seat  of  consciousness  must  be  situated  in  some 
ganglionic  organ  of  co-ordination.  And  we  believe 
this  organ  can  be  sought  for  only  in  the  Striped  Body, 
perhaps  in  the  shell  of  the  nucleus  lentiformis.  The 
Striped  Body  being  a  part  of  the  hemispheric  region 
must,  for  ontogenetic  and  other  reasons,  stand  in  some 
such  relation  to  the  hemispheres.  The  corpus  stria- 
turn  develops  in  the  same  ratio  as  the  hemispheres, 
and  if  it  is  irritated  by  an  electric  current  the  result 
appears  to  be  the  same  as  when  the  motor  centres  of 
the  cortex  are  all  excited  at  once  (Landois).  De- 
struction causes  hemiplegia  (paralysis  on  the  opposite 
half  of  the  body),  which  often  is  accompanied  with 
hemianaesthesia.  Further  verification  of  this  hypoth- 
esis, that  the  organ  of  consciousness  is  to  be  sought 
for  in  some  part  of  the  Striped  Body,  must  be  ex- 
pected from  pathological  and  experimental  observa- 
tions. 

Consciousness,  if  extraordinarily  intense  and  con- 


206  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

centrated,  is  called  attention.  Attention  is  nothing 
but  a  concentration  of  feeling  in  order  to  prepare  for 
and  execute  an  act  of  motion.  Attention  is  not  motion.  It 
is  rather  a  temporary  suppression  of  motion,  but  its 
final  end  and  purpose  is  always  the  execution  of  some 
motion  or  a  series  of  motions  adapted  to  given  condi- 
tions.* Reading,  studying,  observing  in  order  to  un- 
derstand something,  are  as  much  motions  upon  which 
conscious  mind-activity  can  be  concentrated,  as  is  the 
catching  of  prey  by  animals.  In  a  state  of  attention 
all  feeling  is  focused  upon  one  aim,  in  order  to  pre- 
pare in  an  act  of  deliberation  a  specially  adapted  mo- 
tion. After  due  preparation  this  state  of  mind  serves 
as  an  irritant  for  the  execution  of  the  intended  motion. 

The  unity  of  consciousness,  accordingly,  must  be 
conceived  as  the  product  of  concentration.  Many 
feelings  converge  upon  one  point,  aimed  at  by  the  ir- 
ritant for  action.  The  effect  of  their  co-operation  is  an 
attitude  of  which  concentrated  action  or  desire  for 
action  directed  upon  one  common  aim  is  the  charac- 
teristic feature.  Consciousness,  therefore,  is  neither 
a  material  nor  mental  essence,  but  it  is  a  special 
state  of  mind.  The  unity  of  consciousness  is  not 
an  original  and  innate  quality  which  makes  atten- 
tion possible ;  its  unity  is  a  unification.  The  unity  of 
consciousness  is  no  intrinsic  quality  of  mind ;  it  is  im- 
posed upon  the  mind  by  the  object  of  attention,  which 
like  a  magnet  attracts  all  its  tendencies  to  motion,  and 
thus  produces  in  them  and  among  them  a  systematic 
arrangement  so  that  they  all  are  subservient  to  one 
plan  of  action. 

The  physiological  mechanism  of  consciousness  is 

*  See  Th.  Ribot's  "Psychology  of  Attention."  English  translation  pub- 
lished by^The  Open  Court  Publishing  Company.  1890. 


LOCALIZATION.  207 

an  unsolved  problem  still.  If  our  hypothesis,  that  the 
Striped  Bodies  must  be  considered  as  the  organ  of 
consciousness,  should  be  confirmed  and  proved,  the 
question  might  be  raised,  Why  can  we  not  concentrate 
our  attention  upon  two  different  objects  at  the  same 
time?  Why  cannot  one  corpus  striatum  concentrate 
the  consciousness  of  one  hemisphere  upon  one  kind 
of  work,  while  the  other  concentrates  that  of  the  other 
hemisphere  upon  some  other  subject  ? 

A  satisfactory  answer  to  this  question  cannot  be 
given  until  we  know  more  of  the  construction  and 
mechanical  action  of  the  brain  and  especially  of  the 
cortical  ganglions.  Until  then  we  must  be  satisfied 
with  a  preliminary  answer.  If  consciousness  is  the 
common  direction  of  mind-activity,  its  unity  need  not 
be  constituted  by,  or  rest  upon,  one  unique  organ. 
Thus  a  carriage  may  be  drawn  by  two  horses,  hitched 
side  by  side  and  directed  towards  one  common  goal. 
If  consciousness  or  attention  (i.  e.,  the  concentration 
of  consciousness)  is  not  a  unity  but  a  unification,  we 
need  not  search  for  one  single  and  unique  organ  of 
consciousness,  as  did  Descartes,  who  for  this  reason 
assumed  the  seat  of  the  soul  to  be  the  pineal  gland. 
Being  simply  a  state  of  mind  produced  through  a  cer- 
tain attitude  of  concentration,  consciousness  may  have 
its  seat  in  two  or  even  in  several  organs.  It  will  ob- 
tain so  long  as  a  common  direction  governs  the  single 
parts  of  an  organism  ;  and  it  need  not  depend  upon 
the  uniqueness  of  its  organs. 

We  can  illustrate  the  state  of  attention  by  the  phe- 
nomenon of  vision.  If  our  attention  is  concentrated 
upon  one  object  which  we  see  before  us,  we  need  not, 
like  the  marksman,  shut  one  eye  ;  but  we  may  let  the 
axes  of  both  eyes  so  converge  that  the  object  of  our  at- 


2o8  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

tention  is  placed  at  the  centre  of  vision  of  both  eyes. 
The  unity  of  vision  and  also  of  consciousness  consists 
in  this  convergence  ;  and  although  there  are  two  pict- 
ures, one  on  each  retina,  and  two  cortical  images,  one 
in  each  hemisphere,  the  object  is  nevertheless  per- 
ceived as  one  only.  .  The  concentration  of  mental  ac- 
tivity may  take  place  in  both  Striped  Bodies  at  the 
same  time.  So  long  as  it  converges  upon  one  ob- 
ject, so  long  as  it  is  concentrated  upon  one  and  the 
same  idea,  it  will  be  felt  as  a  unitary  state  of  con- 
sciousness. 

It  is  more  than  probable  that  the  mechanism  which 
produces  this  mental  convergence  of  consciousness 
works  as  automatically  in  normal  brains,  as  does  the 
co-operative  adjustment  of  the  motions  of  our  eyes. 
And  in  spite  of  the  wonderful  result  produced,  it  may 
be,  and  I  am  firmly  convinced  that  it  is,  not  much 
more  complicated  than  the  unification  in  the  activity 
of  our  two  organs  of  vision. 


COMPARATIVE  PHYSIOLOGY  OF  THE  BRAIN. 


THE  question  has  often  been  discussed  which  part 
of  the  brain  contains  the  physiological  conditions 
which  distinguish  man  from  his  lower  fellow-beings. 
The  idea  that  these  conditions  reside  in  the  forehead 
is  a  most  popular  belief ;  yet  the  great  physiologist 
Meynert  concludes,  that,  all  abstract  reasoning  being 
impossible  without  language,  the  reasoning  capacities 
of  man  must  have  their  central  seat  in  the  region  of 
speech  which  is  situated  round  the  fossa  Sylvii,  con- 
sisting mainly  of  the  insula,  the  operculuni,  and  the 
first  frontal  convolution. 

The  frontal  lobe,  accordingly,  -contains  some  func- 
tions which  are  not  at  all  the  exclusive  prerogative  of 
man.  It  is  true  that  the  human  head  alone  is  dis- 
tinguished by  a  strongly  marked  frontal  development. 
Yet  there  are  several  reasons  which  make  man's  fore- 
head rise  so  proudly.  Among  them  the  development 
of  the  frontal  convolutions  is  one,  but  by  no  means 
the  most  prominent  reason.  The  frontal  lobe  of  man 
is  42,  of  a  monkey  35,  of  a  bear  30,  of  a  dog  32  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  brain.  The  rise  of  the  human  fore- 
head is  chiefly  conditioned  by  the  strong  develop- 
ment of  the  insula  and  the  whole  region  around  the 
fissure  of  Sylvius  as  well  as  of  the  lenticular  body, 
upon  which  the  insula  rests.  The  growth  of  these 
parts  raises  the  cortex  which  covers  them  and  thus 


210  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

makes  the  forehead  rise.  In  addition  to  these  facts 
we  notice  that  the  temporal  lobe,  like  a  thick  wedge, 
is  pushed  forward  so  as  to  lift  the  whole  brain  still 
higher. 

The  region  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius  appears  very 
low  in  a  sheep,  and  the  temporal  lobe  (In  the  diagram 
of  a  sheep's  brain  S par.)  lies  behind  it  in  a  longi- 
tudinal direction.  Let  us  imagine  that  we  could  turn 
the  hindpart  of  the  Sulcus  parallelis  in  the  brain  of  a 
sheep  downward  and  forward  so  as  to  approach  the 
olfactory  bulb.  By  this  process  we  should  change  the 
brain  of  a  sheep  so  as  to  resemble  the  brain  of  a  dog 
or  a  fox.  In  the  brain  of  a  monkey  the  end  of  the 
temporal  lobe  (7>;/)  is  turned  forward,  so  as  to  be 
directly  behind  the  fissure  of  Sylvius.  In  man  it  pro- 
trudes so  much  that  it  lies  below  and  a  little  in  front 
of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius. 

The  brains  of  carnivorous  mammals,  (for  instance, 
the  brain  of  a  fox,)  show  a  very  regular  arrangement. 
The  fissure  of  Sylvius  (R  p)  is  surrounded  by  four 
horseshoe-shaped  convolutions.  In  man  their  ar- 
rangement is  much  modified  but  still  traceable.  The 
first  horseshoe  alone  is  fully  preserved  in  its  lower, 
temporal  course,  (•$"/')  ;  it  still  reaches  (in  arc  I) 
round  the  fissure  of  Sylvius,  but  the  greatest  part  of 
its  upper  or  parietal  portion  has  disappeared.  The 
second  arch  (arc  II)  corresponds  to  the  Sulcus  inter- 
parietalis  {Sip)  and  Sulcus  occipitalis  exterior  (S.  occ.  e). 
Its  horseshoe  form  is  still  well  preserved  in  the  mon- 
key's brain,  while  it  is  scarcely  recognizable  in  man. 
The  frontal  part  of  the  next  arch,  situated  between 
the  second  and  fourth  horseshoe-shaped  furrow,  corre- 
sponds to  the  posterior  central  convolution  in  the 
monkey  and  in  man,  (limited  in  front  by  the  Central 


COMPARATIVE  PHYSIOLOGY.          211 

Fissure  (7.).  Man  possesses  here  another  well  discern- 
ible central  convolution  (called  the  anterior  central 
convolution  C.  a). 

There  is  scarcely  any  frontal  lobe  in  the  fox's 
brain,  except  the  convolution  which  surrounds  the 
anterior  branch  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius  {Ra).  It 
is  crossed  in  its  upper  part  by  a  horizontal  fissure 
(cm).  These  changes  in  the  arrangement  alter  the 


BRAIN    OF    A    SHEEP. 

ins.  Insula.  Above  the  insula  is  found  the  posterior  branch  of  the  fissure 
of  Sylvius. 

S.  i.  occ.  Sulcus  interoccipitalis. 

S.  par.  Sulcus  Parallelis. 

Fr.  Forehead.     Tm.  Temporal  lobe. 

Off.;  arc  H,  arc  III;  C;  cm-  have  the  same  signification  as  the  following 
diagram,  "  Brain  of  a  Fox." 


BRAIN    OF   A   FOX. 

Olf.  Olfactory  bulb.—  arc. I.  Arcus  parietalis  primus.— arc.H.  Arcus  parie- 
talis  secundus,— arc.IH.  Arcus  occipitalis.— C.  Sulcus  Rolando.— cm.  Sulcus 
Calloso-marginalis.— A.  Gyrus  uncinatus  (hooked  convolution).—/?/.  Ramus 
posterior  fissurae  Sylvii. 


212  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

direction  of  the  fissure  of  Sylvius,  which  is  almost 
vertical  in  the  sheep.  In  carnivorous  mammals  and 
in  the  monkey  it  forms  with  the  base  of  the  brain  an 
angle  of  about  45  degrees  while  in  man  it  is  almost 
parallel  to  the  base  of  the  brain. 

This  comparison  shows  that  man's  brain  is  distin- 
guished by  a  special  development  of  the  frontal ;  the 
monkey's  brain  by  a  special  development  of  the  oc- 


BRAIN  OF  MONKEY.     {Cercocebus  griseoviridis.) 

Fr.     Forehead. 

Occ.     Occiput. 

Tin,     Temporal  lobe. 

S.  ~cr.     Sulcus  cruciatus. 

Sir.     (In  the  frontal  lobe)  first  frontal  fissure. 

Sis.    Incipient  second  frontal  fissure. 

The  same  letters  are  used  in  the  temporal  lobe  for  the  first  and  second 
temporal  fissure. 

p.C.  Sulcus  praecentralis,  appearing  in  connection  with  the  incipient 
second  sulcusfrontalis. 

C.     Sulcus  centralis. 

F.  S.     Fissura  Sylvii. 

Rp.     Ramus  ascendens  of  Fissura  Sylvii. 

arc.  /.     Anterior  parietal  arc. 

arc.  II.     Posterior  parietal  arc. 

lob.  occ.    Lobus  occipitalis. 

'rC.     Sulcus  interparietalis. 

S.  occ.  e.     Sulcus  occipitalis  exterior. 

S.po.     Sulcus  prasoccipitalis. 

Li,  L2,  Lj.     First,  second,  and  third  temporal  convolutions. 

Cbl.^  Cerebellum. 

Obi.     Medulla  oblongata. 


COMPARATIVE  PHYSIOLOGY. 


213 


cipital ;  and  the  fox's  by  a  development  of  the  parietal 

lobes. 

"Had  these  proportions  no  meaning,"  says  Meynert, 

"comparative  anatomy  would  be  a  loss  of  time  and 

serious  men  should  leave  it  alone." 

One  of  the  most  important  modifications  in  the 
arrangement  of  the  different  parts  remains  still  to  be 
noted.  This  is  the  change  from  the  horizontal  ar- 
rangement where  (as  in  the  sheep)  the  cerebellum  and 


Off. 


BRAIN    OF    MAN. 

Fr.  Tm.  Occ.—Scr.  Sulc.,  F.S.,  Rp.,—Sli,  Sl2  ;  in  frontal  lobe  and  Sir, 
St2,in  parietal  lobe; — Lr,  L2,  Lj,  in  parietal  lobe— pC ;  C;  arc.  I,  arc.  II ; 
S.  occ.  e;  the  same  as  in  the  preceding  diagram,  "  Brain  of  Monkey." 

C.  trs.  Gyrus  transitorius.  Transitory  convolution  surrounding  R.ci 
Ramus  anterior,  the  anterior  branch  of  Fissura  Sylvii. 

Ca.  Cp.    Anterior  and  posterior  Central  convolution,  separated  by  C. 

Sip.     (In  the  preceding  diagram  rC.)     Sulcus  interparietalis. 

Ps.  (Qu.)     Lobus  parietalis  superior,  commonly  called  Quadratus. 

S.  occ.     Sulcus  occipitalis  interior. 

Occ.  (Cu.)     Gyrus  occipitalis  superior,  commonly  called  Cuneus. 

Occ.  z.     Gyrus  occipitalis  interior. 

S.  z.  o.     Sulcus  interoccipitalis. 

arc,  oc'-.     Arcus  occipitalis. 


2I4 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


BRAIN  OF  AN  ELEPHANT.  (After  Leuret  and  Gratiolet.) 
S.S.  Fissure  of  Sylvius.— S.S.  S'S'.  S"S".  First,  second,  and  third  superior 
convolutions. — fA,  II  A,  III  A.  First,  second,  and  third  anterior  convolutions. 
— IP,  II P,  Ifl P.  First,  second,  and  third  posterior  convolutions. — O.  O.  Sub- 
orbital  convolutions. — The  first  superior  convolution  (5". 5.)  corresponds  to  the 
Fissure  of  Rolando  in  the  brain  of  man  and  monkey. — The  second  and  'third 
superior  convolutions  interrupt  the  continuity  between  the  corresponding  an- 
terior and  posterior  convolutions. — M.  Leuret  says  on  the  subject:  "  If  we 
suppress  in  our  mind  the  superior  convolutions  up  to  the  place  where  the 
cross  appears  in  the  diagram,  and  if  we  imagine  that  the  anterior  convolu- 
tions are  continuous  with  the  posterior  convolutions,  we  have  an  arrangement 
as  it  appears  in  the  ruminants  and  solipeds." — The  same  author  says  :  "  No 
animal,  not  even  the  whale  has  a  brain  so  large  as  the  elephant.  Even  man 
himself  is  inferior  to  this  animal,  not  only  with  regard  to  the  whole  volume  of 
brain,  but  also  with  regard  to  the  number,  extent,  and  undulations  of  the 
cerebral  convolutions." 


COMPARATIVE  PHYSIOLOGY.          215 

Medulla  Oblongata  lie  in  one  line  with  the  elongated 
brain,  to  the  erect  position  which  brings  the  medulla 
directly  underneath  the  hemispheres  and  places  the 
cerebellum  below  the  occipital  lobe.  This  mechanical 
change  of  so  momentous  consequences,  must  evolu- 
tionally  have  begun  long  before  it  could  have  been 
acquired  by  exercise,  since  the  incurvation  of  the  pons 
in  the  human  embryo  which  thrusts  both  pons  and 
cerebellum  forward,  thus  producing  the  conditions  that 
determine  the  further  development  of  the  brain  in  a 
supra-  and  not  in  a  juxta-position,  takes  place  at  a 
very  early  period. 

The  importance  of  this  change  will  be  appreciated 
when  we  consider  that  the  rise  of  the  head  causes  a 
creature  to  rely  more  on  its  eyes  and  less  on  its  nose. 
The  animal  of  scent  becomes  an  animal  of  vision,  ul- 
timately liberating  its  anterior  extremities  for  work. 
The  jaws  recede  and  the  different  parts  of  the  brain 
are  piled  upon  one  another  so  as  to  shape  the  hemi- 
spheres into  a  dome-like  cupola.  The  senses  also 
cease  to  be  arranged  one  behind  the  other.  Eye,  ear, 
and  nose  form  a  triangle,  the  eye  being  situated  at 
the  top. 

The  nose  being  removed  from  the  gro-und  naturally 
turns  downward  toward  the  earth  which  for  the  animal 
of  scent  has  been  the  main  source  of  information  ;  for 
there  is  nothing  to  be  scented  in  the  air. 

The  conclusion  of  Meynert,  whose  authority  we 
have  closely  followed  in  this  article,  is  that  the  human 
organisation  can  be  explained  neither  through  exercise 
of  functions  alone  nor  through  natural  selection,  but, 
according  to  Weismann's  theory,  through  the  develop- 
ment of  special  virtual  faculties  of  the  germ. 


2l6 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


IV 


F  ' 


DIAGRAMS    SHOWING  THE  GROWTH  OF    THE    HEMISPHERIC    REGION    IN    PROPORTION 

TO  AN  INCREASE  OF  INTELLIGENCE.     (Reproduced  from  Landois.) 


I.  Brain  of  a  dog  dorsal  view. 
II.  The  same  lateral  view. 

III.  Brain  of  a  rabbit. 

IV.  Brain  of  a  pigeon. 
V.  Brain  of  a  frog. 

VI.  Brain  of  a  carp. 


In  III-VI. 

o.  Bulbus  olfactorius. 
I       i.  Cerebrum. 

2.  Lobus  Opticus. 

3.  Cerebellum. 

4.  Medulla  Oblongata. 


COMPARATIVE  PHYSIOLOGY.          217 

The  diagrams  I  and  II  show  the  motor  centres  of  the  dog's  brain. 
I,  II,  III,  IV,  are  the  four  horseshoe-convolutions. 
S.  Sulcus  cruciatus. 
F.  Fossa  Sylvii. 
p.  Optic  nerve. 

MOTORY  CENTRES.     (After  Fritsch  and  Hitzig.) 

1.  Muscles  of  the  neck. 

2.  Extensors  and  flexors  of  forepaw. 

3.  Flexors  and  rotators  of  forepaw. 

4.  Muscles  of  hind  leg.     (Luciani  and  Tamburini.) 

5.  Facial  nerve. 

6.  Wagging  the  tail  side  ways. 

7.  Retraction  and  abduction  of  foreleg.     (Ferrier.) 

8.  Lifting  of  the  shoulder  and  extension  of  foreleg.     (The  motion  of  walk- 
ing.)    (Ferrier.) 

9.9.  Orbicular  muscle  of  the  eyebrows.     (Ferrier.) 

ZYGOMATICUS  AND   CLOSING   THE   LIDS. 

a.  Retraction  and  elevation  of  the  corners  of  the  mouth. 

b.  Centre  for  the  mouth  and  tongue.     It  opens  and  closes  the  mouth,  ex- 
tending at  the  same  time  the  tcngue. 

cc.  Retraction  of  the  corners  of  the  mouth. 
c'.  Lifting  of  the  corners  of  the  mouth. 

d.  Opening  of  the  eye. 

e.  Opening  of  the  eye  and  turning  the  head  aside. 

f.  Centres  of  hearing.*     (Ferrier.) 

g.  Centres  of  smell.*    (Ferrier.) 

t.  Thermal  Centre  (in  i  after  Landoit.  and  Eulenburg)  shows  increase  of 
temperature. 

Landois  says  :  "The  degree  of  intelligence  in  the  animal  kingdom  is  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of  the  hemispheres  of  the  Cerebrum  in  proportion  to  the 
mass  of  the  other  parts  of  the  central  nervous  system.  If  we  take  only  into 
consideration  the  brain,  it  shows  that  those  animals  possess  the  higher  degree 
of  intelligence,  in  which  the  hemispheres  of  the  cerebrum  have  the  greater 
preponderance  over  the  mid-brain.  The  latter  represents  with  the  lower 
vertebrata  the  optic  lobes,  with  the  higher  the  four  hills.  (Joh.  Miiller). 

"In  the  above  diagram,  figure  VI  represents  the  brain  of  the  carp,  figure 
V  that  of  the  frog,  and  figure  IV  that  of  the  pigeon.  In  all  these  figures  the 
hemispheres  are  numbered  i,  the  optic  lobes  2,  the  cerebellum  3,  and  the  me- 
dulla oblongata  4. 

"  In  the  carp  the  cerebral  hemispheres  are  smaller  than  the  thalami,  with 
the  frog  the  latter  are  superior  in  size.  With  the  pigeon  the  cerebrum  extends 
behind  as  far  as  the  cerebellum. — Analogous  to  these  proportions  is  the  de- 
gree of  intelligence  of  the  above  named  animals.  In  the  brain  of  the  dog 
(fig  II)  the  hemispheres  cover  the  four  hills,  but  the  cerebellum  lies  behind 


*  The  centre  for  smell  and  hearing  are  situated  in  other  regions  according 

to  Munk. 


2i 8  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  cerebrum.  In  man  the  occipital  lobe  of  the  cerebrum  overlaps  the  cere- 
bellum. 

"  Meynert  happily  represented  these  proportions  in  another  manner.  From 
the  cerebral  hemispheres  fibres,  as  is  known,  pass  downwards  through  the 
Pedunculus  cerebri,  namely  through  the  ventral  part  of  the  Pedunculus, 
called  the  Pes.  This  is  separated  by  the  Substantia  nigra  from  the  dorsal 
part  of  the  same,  called  tegmentum,  which  stands  in  connection  with  the  four 
hills  and  the  thalami.  The  greater  the  cerebral  hemispheres,  the  more 
numerous  are  the  fibres  running  through  the  pes." 

The  tegmentum  in  the  guinea  pig  is  about  ten  times  larger  than  the  pes, 
that  of  the  dog  and  the  monkey,  five  or  six  times.  In  man  the  pes  is  about 
the  same  size  as  the  tegmentum,  which  proves  that  the  reflexes  coming  down 
from  the  cerebrum  are  that  much  more  numerous. 

"  Finally  the  degree  of  intelligence  depends  on  the  number  of  convolutions 
in  the  hemispheres.  While  with  the  lower  animals,  as  the  fish,  the  frog,  the 
bird,  the  convolutions  are  wanting  (Fig.  IV,  V,  VI),  we  see  in  the  rabbit  two 
shallow  convolutions  in  each  hemisphere  (Fig.  III.)  The  dog  shows  a  richly 
marked  cerebrum.  Remarkable  is  the  wealth  of  convolution  in  the  elephant, 
the  cleverest  and  noblest  of  animals.  Even  in  the  invertebrata,  as  in  some  in- 
sects with  high  instincts,  convolusions  have  been  observed  in  the  cerebrum. 
Yet  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  even  many  stupid  animals,  as  cattle,  possess 
richly  convoluted  hemispheres."  (Cattle  in  the  wild  state,  we  may  add,  were 
most  likely  in  possession  of  a  higher  intelligence.  This  perhaps  accounts 
for  their  having  inherited  their  convolutions.) 

"This  observation  concerning  convolutions  holds  good  also  of  men  of 
high  intelligence,  but  brains  rich  in  convolutions  are  also  found  in  stupid 
persons. 

"  The  absolute  weight  of  the  brain  cannot  be  used  for  the  estimation  of  the 
degree  of  intelligence.  The  elephant  has  the  absolutely  heaviest,  man  has  the 
relatively  heaviest  brain." 

There  is  a  startling  agreement  between  Professor 
Weismann's  biological  views  and  Ludwig  Noire's 
theory  concerning  the  origin  of  reason.  Noire  says 
that  language,  i.  e.,  the  mechanism  of  thought  has 
produced  reason  ;  man  thinks  because  he  speaks.  And 
according  to  Weismann's  theory,  Meynert  'says  that 
man  became  a  sight-animal  because  the  mechanism 
of  his  brain  arrangement  forced  him  into  an  erect  walk, 
thus  developing  the  higher  senses  of  his  organization, 


FECUNDATION  AND  THE  PROBLEM  OF  SEX- 
FORMATION. 


HUMAN  soul-life  may  be  compared  to  an  ellipse. 
It  is  determined  and  regulated  from  two  centres  \  the 
one  of  which  is  consciousness,  the  other  the  sexual  in- 
stinct. The  sun  of  man's  individual  existence  stands 
in  the  former,  the  physical  immortality  of  the  race  is 
to  be  found  in  the  latter,  and  it  would  be  difficult  to 
decide  which  of  the  two  is  of  greater  importance. 

It  does  not  lie  within  the  plan  of  this  book  to  enter 
into  the  difficult  field  of  sexual  problems,  which  owing 
to  the  subconscious  character  of  its  phenomena,  is  in 
most  of  its  phases  still  a  terra  incognita.  Yet  we  do 
not  intend  to  leave  this  great  field  entirely  out  of  sight, 
and  shall  in  the  following  pages  briefly  indicate  the 
dominant  physiological  facts  in  the  domain  of  propa- 
gation. 

Every  organism  has  developed  from  a  single  primi- 
tive cell.  This  primitive  cell  is  called  the  ovum,  or  egg. 
There  are  some  organisms  that  consist  so  to  speak  of 
an  ovum  only ;  and  these  unicellular  beings  are,  ac- 
cording to  Weismann,  endowed  with  potential  immor- 
tality. When  in  the  course  of  a  further  evolution  organ- 
isms grow  more  complicated,  a  division  of  labor  takes 
place,  and  we  must  distinguish  in  that  case  between 
those  cells  that  serve  the  function  of  reproduction,  or 


220  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  sexual  cells,  and  those  that  build  up  the  body  of 
the  individual,  or  the  somatic  cells.  The  potential  im- 
mortality with  which  life  in  its  lowest  phases  is  en- 
dowed, continues  in  the  sexual  cells,  and  Naegeli  has 
therefore  compared  humanity  to  a  creeping  plant, 
which  at  given  intervals  sends  out  buds  and  shoots. 
The  creeping  plant  is  represented  in  the  sexual  cells ; 
the  shoots  that  grow  therefrom  are  the  individuals. 
The  shoots  die  off,  but  the  creeping  plant  continues 
to  exist  and  to  send  out  new  shoots  thus  preserving 
the  life  of  the  race. 

The  formation  of  new  cells  in  plants  has  been 
carefully  studied  by  botanists,  and  is  in  its  main 
features  well  known.  New  cells  may  develop  by  a 
simple  division  of  the  mother  cell,  or  by  a  complex 
division  after  a  conjugation  of  two  cells.  The  former 
is  agamic  reproduction  ;  the  latter,  sexual  reproduc- 
tion. But  whether  the  division  of  a  cell  does  or  does 
not  take  place  after  sexual  conjugation,  the  mother 
cell  must  have  previously  gone  through  a  process 
which  J.  Sachs  calls  "  cellular  rejuvenescence."  A 
certain  portion  of  the  watery  elements  (cell-sap)  is 
expelled,  and  if  the  cell  contains  a  nucleus,  this  nu- 
cleus is  dissolved  in  the  protoplasm  ;  and  thus  the  cell 
returns  into  a  youthful  state,  where  its  elements  can 
be  recombined  into  new  formations.  Examples  of  this 
process  will  be  found  in  the  development  of  the  spores 
of  many  kinds  of  Algae  and  in  similar  plants  of  the 
lowest  orders.  The  adjoined  diagram  represents  Stigeo- 
clonium  insigne  (A},  containing  in  its  cylindrical  cells 
green  colored  protoplasm,  which  is  called  chloro- 
phyll. The  chlorophyll  is  arranged  in  stripes  of 
very  definite  outlines  (A  cl).  The  rejuvenescence 
begins  (in  B)  with  a  contraction  of  the  cells.  The 


FECUNDATION'. 


221 


protoplasm  loses  its  definite  form  and  gathers  into  a 
solid  ball  from  which  the  cell-sap  is  pressed  out.  (By 
a  and  #'.)  The  protoplasm  is  then  rearranged  and 
the  new  formation  protrudes  through  an  aperture  in 


FORMATION  OF  CELLS  IN    STIGEOCLONIUM  INSIGNE. 

A.  Several  cells  of  the  Alga.  cl.  green  protoplasm  (chlorophyll}  embedded 
in  colorless  protoplasm. 

B.  Showing  the  contraction  of  the  protoplasm  (a  and  a').     Some  proto- 
plasm protrudes  through  the  cell  wall  (b  and  b'). 

C.  Free  spores  without  the  membrane. 

D.  Full-grown  spore. 

E.  Encysted  spore. 

G.  Two  cells  of  a  filament  ready  for  segmentation. 
H.  Young  Alga. 

the  cell  (B,  b  and  <5'.)  Thus  far  this  new  formation 
remains  passive,  its  form  is  determined  by  outward 
conditions.  But  as  soon  as  it  is  released  from  its 
mother  cell,  (as  seen  in  C,)  it  roams  about;  its  mo- 
tions in  this  case  being  caused  by  inner  conditions. 


222 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


The  young  spore  soon  becomes  encompassed  in  a 
membrane  (E)  and  for  a  few  hours  keeps  growing,  its 
growth  being  mainly  in  length  (D).  Then  it  settles 
into  a  condition  of  rest.  Its  further  growth  by  a  divi- 
sion of  cells  is  represented  in  H. 

The  simplest  process  of  conjugation  is  found  in 
another  alga,  Spirogyra  longata,  which  is  very  common 
in  stagnant  water.  Its  filaments  consist  of  rows  of 

I.  H. 


SPIROGYRA  LONGATA. 

I.  Cells  of  two  filaments  in  an  early  stage  of  conjugation,  showing  the  spir- 
ally coiled  chlorophyll-bands,  in  the  chlorophyll-granules  of  which  lie  rings  of 
starch-grains  ;   they  contain  also  small  drops  of  oil.     This  is  the  condition  of 
the  chlorophyll  after  the  action  of  strong  sunlight ;  the  nuclei  are  also  to  be 
seen  in  the  cells,  each  surrounded  by  protoplasm,  threads  of  which  reach  the 
cell-wall  in  different  places ;  a  and  b  are  the  protuberances  in  the  different 
stages. 

II.  A.  Cells  in  the  act  of  conjugation  ;  at  a  the  protoplasm  of  one  cell  is 
passing  over  in  the  other;  at£  this  has  already  taken  place. 

B.  The  young    zygospores   surrounded   by  a  cell-wall ;    the  protoplasm 
contains  numerous  drops  of  oil. 


FE  CUNDA  TION.  223 

cylindrical  cells,  each  of  which  contains  a  protoplasm- 
sac.  This  sac  encloses  a  relatively  large  quantity  of 
cell-sap,  in  the  midst  of  which  is  suspended  a  nucleus 
enveloped  in  a  small  mass  of  protoplasm  and  at- 
tached to  the  sac  by  threads  of  the  same  substance.  In 
the  sac  lies  a  spirally  coiled  chlorophyll-band  at  inter- 
vals showing,  thicker  portions  (chlorophyll-granules) 
which  contain  starch-grains.  The  conjugation  always 
takes  place  between  opposite  cells  of  two  more  or  less 
parallel  filaments.  The  first  stage  is  the  formation  of 
lateral  protuberances  (/,  a),  which  continue  to  grow 
until  they  meet  (/,  £).  The  protoplasm  of  each  of 
the  two  cells  in  contact  then  contracts.  The  proto- 
plasm of  the  one  which  contracts  first  will  as  a  rule 
pass  over  into  the  other.*  The  protoplasm  of  the 
two  cells  thus  being  combined,  rounds  itself  into  an 
ellipsoidal  form,  and  contracts  still  more  by  expelling 
the  water  of  the  cell-sap.  This  may  occur  simultane- 
ously in  the  two  conjugating  cells.  Next,  the  cell-wall 
opens  between  the  two  protuberances,  and  one  of  the 
two  ellipsoidal  protoplasm-masses  forces  itself  into 
the  connecting  channel  thus  formed,  gliding  slowly 
through  it  into  the  other  cell-cavity.  As  soon  as  it 
touches  the  protoplasm-mass  of  the  other  cell,  they 
coalesce.  (A  a).  After  a  complete  union  the  united 
body  is  again  ellipsoidal  and  scarcely  larger  than  either 
protoplasm-ball  from  the  union  of  which  it  was 
formed.  During  the  union  a  further  contraction  has 
evidently  taken  place  with  a  renewed  expulsion  of 
water.  The  coalescence  gives  the  impression  of  a 
union  of  two  drops  of  water,  although  the  protoplasm 
is  never  fluid  in  the  physical  sense  of  the  word.  The 
conjugated  protoplasm-mass  covers  itself  with  a  cell- 

*  Strassburger.     Ueber  Befruchtung  und  Zelltheilung,  1878. 


224 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


wall  and  forms  a  zygospore,  which  germinates  after  a 
repose  of  several  months  and  then  develops  a  new 
filament  of  cells.* 

Sometimes  it  happens  that  several  cells  combine. 
Conjugations  of  three  or  more  cells  have  been  ob- 
served in  Myxomycetes  and  some  Fungi.  In  the  case 
of  Spirogyra  longata  both  combining  elements  are  ap- 
parently equal.  The  higher  we  rise  in  the  development 
of  plant  life,  the  more  unequal  the  two  elements  be- 
come, and  the  more  apparent  is  the  distinction  between 
a  male  and  a  female  germ — the  antherozoid  and  the 


SEXUAL  REPRODUCTION  OF   FUCUS  VES1CULOSUS. 

A.  Branched  hair-bearing  antheridia. 

B.  Antherozoids. 

/.  An  oogonium  O^-with  paraphyses/. 

//.  The  exterior  membrane  a  of  the  oogonium  is  split,  the  inner  mem- 
brane /protrudes  containing  the  oospheres. 

///.  An  oosphere  escaped,  with  antherozoids  swarming  round  it. 

V.  First  division  of  the  oospore  or  fertilised  oosphere. 

II7.  A  young  plant  resulting  from  the  growth  of  the  oospore  (after  Thuret, 
Ann.  des  Sci.  Nat.  1854,  Vol.  ii). 


*  Compare  Julius  Sachs's,  Textbook  of  Botany,  English  translation,  pp.  9 


and 


FECUNDATION.  225 

oosphere.  The  former  is  also  called  a  spermatozoon, 
the  latter  an  ovum  ;  terms  which  are  applied  in  the 
same  sense  to  the  animal  world. 

The  lowest  animal  organisms,  such  as  the  amoeba, 
propagate  by  division  ;  but  here  also  an  antecedent 
rejuvenescence  of  the  protoplasm  has  been  observed. 
The  process  of  sexual  propagation  is  here  very  similar 
to  that  in  higher  plants,  as  exhibited  in  the  diagram 
of  Fucus  vesiculosus  (///)• 


FECUNDATION  OF  EGG  OF  HOLOTHURIUM. 

a.  The  egg. — b.  Spermatozoa. 

In  the  internal  generative  organs  of  higher  animals 
one  among  the  many  cells  of  a  Graafian  follicle. de- 
velops into  a  female  germinal  cell,  called  the  germinal 
vesicle.  The  germinal  vesicle  can  easily  be  distin- 
guished among  the  other  cells  by  its  unusual  size. 
It  is  surrounded  by  a  greater  number  of  cells  which 
form  an  elevation  called  the  cell-hill. 

The  eggs  of  vertebrates  (of  fishes,  reptiles,  am- 
phibia, and  birds),  which  develop  outside  of  the 
mother  organism,  are  wrapped  in  different  kinds  of 
envelopes  which  afford  a  protection  to  them  during  the 


226  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

first  stages  of  their  growth.  The  germinative  cell  alone 
is  the  ovum,  or  egg-cell  proper.  The  mature  egg  of 
birds  consists  of  a  yellow  mass,  called  the  yolk,  which 
is  enveloped  in  the  yolk-membrane  and  surrounded 
by  a  whitish  mass,  called  the  white  of  the  egg.  Both 
have  a  mere  nutritive  value.  In  one  spot  the  white 


I.      GRAAFIAN    FOLLICLE. 

a.  blastoderm  (membrane  of  the  follicle). — b.  Ovum  (egg-cell). — c.  Seg- 
mentation-cavity. — d.  Cell-hill. 

II.    CRLL-HILL.     (Strongly  magnified.) 
The  ovum  (a)  is  embedded  in  transparent  cells. 

substance  appears  to  sink  deep  down  into  the  yellow 
yolk.  This  part  is  popularly  called  treadle,  because 
it  was  formerly  believed  to  be  produced  by  the  tread 
of  the  cock.  It  contains  the  germinative  disc,  having 
the  shape  of  a  lense  or  flattened  globe,  and  this  disc 
is  the  egg-cell  proper,  having  a  yolk  of  its  own,  a  ger- 
minal vesicle  and  germinal  spot. 

Before  impregnation  can  take  place,  the  ovum  must 
be  prepared  for  it  by  a  process  of  rejuvenescence.  In 
some  animals  (especially  in  certain  insects,  but  not  in 
higher  mammals)  parthenogenesis  takes  place;  that 
is,  the  ovum  develops  a  new  individual  without  the 
assistance  of  the  male  sperma.  The  preparation  for 
impregnation  has  been  best  observed  in  the  ova  of 


FECUNDATION. 


227 


sea-urchins  and  star-fishes.  The  rejuvenescence  sets 
in  without  the  interference  of  the  male  element.  The 
process,  as  described  by  Selenka,  begins  with  lively 
motions  in  the  yolk  of  the  ovum  ;  processes  protrude 
from  the  outer  transparent  layer  of  the  yolk  into  the 
gelatinous  zone,  forming  very  delicate  rays.  After 


EGG  OF  A  STAR-FISH.     (Aster ias  glacialis.} 

1.  Full  grown  egg. 

2.  The  same.    The  nucleus  in  a  state  of  dissolution  and  about  to  form 
the  polar  spindle. 

3.  Segment  of  the  egg,  showing  the  polar  spindle  after  having  thrown  out 
the  polar  body. 

4.  The  same,  after  having  thrown  out  the  second  polar  body. 

some  time  the  rays  recede  and  leave  minute  pores 
which  may  serve  partly  to  effect  increased  respiration, 
partly  to  facilitate  the  entrance  of  the  spermatozoa. 

The  state  of  maturity  being  attained,  most  impor- 
tant changes  are  observed  in  the  germinal  vesicle. 
The  germinal  vesicle' of  a  mature  egg  exhibits  all  the 


228  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

essential  qualities  of  a  nucleus.  (See  the  diagram  of 
the  egg  of  the  star-fish,  Asterias  glacialis,  i.)  The 
protoplasm  of  this  nucleus,  which  is  wrapped  in  a  mem- 
brane, develops  a  system  of  cavities  in  the  shape  of 
meshes,  called  vacuoles.  The  germinal  spot  rests  in 
the  middle  of  this  net-work,  attached  to  the  membrane 
by  many  delicately  intertwined  threads  ;  and  thus  the 
nucleolar  plasma  is  reduced  to  a  state  much  resem- 
bling that  of  vegetable  cells. 

According  to  the  observations  of  Fol  and  others, 
the  nucleolar  membrane  soon  wrinkles,  most  likely  in 
consequence  of  some  such  process  of  contraction  and 
expulsion  of  watery  elements  out  of  the  vacuoles  as 
has  been  distinctly  observed  in  plant-cells.  The  con- 
tours of  the  germinal  vesicle  grow  paler  and  more  ir- 
regular ;  soon  the  vesicle  disappears  and  most  of  its 
elements — those  of  the  germinal  spot  not  excluded — 
are  intermingled  with  the  surrounding  yolk.  The  place 
at  which  the  germinal  vesicle  has  been  dissolved, 
however,  remains  visible  as  a  transparent  spot  com- 
posed of  a  finely  granulated  diaphanous  substance, 
irregular  in  shape  and  without  definite  delimitation. 
This  transparent  spot  forms  the  centre  of  a  process 
which  eventually  ends  in  the  reconstruction,  of  a  new 
nucleus.  The  process  begins  with  a  movement  of  this 
transparent  spot  towards  the  surface  of  the  egg,  form- 
ing a  spindle-shaped  figure,  the  polar  spindle  (Rich- 
tungsspindel}  and  excreting  two  little  bodies  called  the 
polar  bodies  (Richtungskorpef}. 

The  two  poles  of  the  spindle-shaped  figure  produce 
a  differentiation  of  the  protoplasm  ;  they  attract  small 
transparent  masses,  so  that,  for  some  time,  the  ap- 
pearance of  dumb-bells  is  presented.  The  two  knobs 


FECUNDATION.  229 

soon  assume  the  shape  of  suns  connected  with   the 
long  fibres  of  the  spindle. 

Auerbach,  the  first  observer  of  this  phenomenon, 
called  it  the  "caryolytic  figure";  Fol  calls  it  "the 
double  star,"  or  "  amphiaster. "  In  these  double  stars 
the  polar  bodies  are  formed.  When  the  double  star 
approaches  the  surface  of  the  yolk,  its  membrane 
protrudes  forming  a  small  elevation.  And  now  out  of 
that  pole  of  the  spindle  which  is  in  contact  with  the 
surface,  one  polar  body  is  excreted  under  vigorous 
contractions  of  the  outer  layers  of  the  yolk.  A  second 
polar  body  is  formed  at  the  same  pole  where  the  star 
has  disappeared  and  is  expelled  in  the  same  way,  leav- 
ing one  star  only  in  the  ovum  at  the  other  end  of  the 
spindle. 

The  two  most  important  views  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  polar  cells  are  those  (i)  of  Balfour  and  Van  Bene- 
den,  and  (2)  of  Weismann.  The  first-named  authors 
suppose  that  the  egg,  being  a  product  of  both  sexes, 
is  primitively  hermaphrodite.  By  the  extrusion  of  the 
polar  bodies,  the  male  portion  of  the  egg  is  thrown 
out,  and  the  remainder  thus  becomes  unisexual  (fe- 
male), and  ready  for  the  entrance  of  the  spermato- 
zoon. This  process  would  thus  be  a  contrivance  for 
the  prevention  of  parthenogenesis. 

Weismann  distinguishes  in  every  animal  body  two 
kinds  of  cells,  somatic  and  generative  (or  sexual}  cells. 
As  all  the  cells  arise  as  products  of  the  segmentation 
of  the  ovum,  they  are  originally  quite  similar  mor- 
phologically, and  each  would  thus  consist  of  a  "so- 
matic" and  of  a  "generative"  portion.  In  order  that 
certain  of  them  should  give  rise  to  definite  generative 
cells,  it  is  necessary  that  the  formative  element,  which 
would  give  rise  to  the  somatic  portion,  should  be  got 


230  .     THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

rid  of,  and  this  is  effected  by  the  extrusion  of  the  polar 
bodies. 

The  first  hypothesis  presupposes  that  in  partheno- 
genesis no  polar  bodies  are  formed.  Weismann  has 
lately,  however,  proved  their  existence  in  the  partheno- 
genetic  summer  eggs  of  Daphnidae,  and  this  view  is 
consequently  rendered  improbable.  In  the  develop- 
ment of  the  male  generative  cells,  a  certain  portion  of 
each  primitive  seminal  cell  also  remains  passive,  not 
giving  rise  to  spermatozoa. 

The  significance  of  the  polar  bodies  is  apparent 
from  the  role  which  the  remaining  part  of  the  polar 
spindle  has  to  play.  It  is  no  indifferent  material 
that  has  been  thrown  out,  but  elements  of  the  greatest 
formative  faculty ;  for  the  remaining  star  constitutes 
that  part  around  which  the  new  nucleus  is  to  be 
formed.  The  substance  of  the  star  gathers  into  two 
light  grains,  around  which  other  similar  grains  are 
formed.  They  coalesce  and  thus  form  the  new  nu- 
cleus of  the  ovum.  The  new  nucleus  slowly  recedes 
from  the  periphery  toward  the  centre  or  near  the 
centre  of  the  ovum,  and  when  it  settles  into  a  state 
of  rest  the  ovum  is  ready  for  impregnation. 

The  process  of  rejuvenescence  is  in  itself  sufficient 
to  produce  segmentation,  and  in  many  of  the  lower 
animals  parthenogenesis  takes  place.  Parthenogene- 
sis, however,  is  confined  to  the  invertebrates.  In  all 
the  vertebrates,  an  admixture  of  the  generative  pro- 
ducts of  the  male  is  an  indispensable  condition  to  the 
development  of  the  ovum. 

As  an  example  of  the  process  of  conjugation  we 
select  Selenka's  observation  of  the  impregnation  of  the 
egg  of  a  sea-urchin  {Taxopneustes  variegatus},  which 
he  removed  fresh  from  the  mother  organism  and 


FECUND  A  TION. 


231 


placed  in  water,  so  that  male  germs  could  approach  it. 
A  spermatozoon  succeeds  in  forcing  its  entrance,  as 
a  rule,  at  the  very  same  place  of  the  elevation  which 
originated  through  the  expulsion  ,of  the  polar  bodies. 
The  tail  of  the  spermatozoon  remains  outside.  A  star 
is  formed  by  the  transparent  mass  of  the  protoplasm 


FECUNDATION  OF  THE  EGG  OF  A  SEA-URCHIN.       (ToXOpmUStes  VariegCttUS.) 

(Strongly  magnified.) 

1.  Full  grown  egg  after  the  removal  of  the  polar  bodies  j.  a  spermatozoon 
is  approaching  the  protrusion  formed  by  the  expulsion  of  the  polar  bodies. 

2.  The  spermatozoSn  penetrates  into  the  interior;  a  sun  of  transparent 
protoplasm  gathers  around  its  head ;  the  whole  cell  is  in  a  state  of  violent 
perturbation. 

3.  The  spermatozoon's  head  is  dissolved  into  the  substance  of  the  cell; 
the  neck  is  enlarged  forming  the  sperma  nucleus.     The  sperma  nucleus  and 
the  nucleus  of  the  ovum  approach  each  other  and  will  soon  be  united  into 
one. 


232 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


FECUNDATION.  233 

which  gathers  round  the  head  of  the  spermatozoon, 
and  at  the  same  time  a  contraction  of  the  yolk  sets  in. 
The  head  of  the  spermatozoon  and  the  nucleus  are 
attracted  to  each  other.  The  pointed  top  of  the 
spermatozoon  is  dissolved  and  absorbed  by  the  yolk. 
The  round  neck  increases  in  size  and  forms  a  second 
nucleus,  called  sperma-nucleus  in  distinction  from  the 
nucleus  of  the  ovum.  The  nucleus  of  the  ovum  forms 
a  hollow  cavity,  shaped  like  a  diminutive  crater  which 
receives  the  sperma-nucleus.  The  sperma-nucleus 
sends  out  several  finger- shaped  processes  toward  the 
nucleus  of  the  ovum,  and  amid  a  constant  change  of 
form  coalesces  with  it  into  one"  nucleus,  called  the 
segmentation- nucleus.  The  first  segmentation-nucleus 
divides  into  two  equal  parts,  each  of  which  forms  a 
new  centre  for  the  division  of  the  ovum  into  two  halves. 
The  process  of  segmentation  continues  until  the  mo- 
rula  stage  is  reached,  whereupon  the  gastrula  is 


GASTRULA-FORMATION    OF    THE    POND    SNAIL  (Lymnaeus)   AND    THE    ARROW  WORM 

(Sagitta). 

Gastrulation,  which  comprises  the  first  five  stages  of  germination  of  the 
Metazoa,  is  represented  in  this  plate  in  its  simplest  and  most  primitive  form, 
as  the  development  o?.the  archigastrula  (Fig.  8  and  /<?);  all  the  remaining 
stages  of  germination  are  to  be  regarded  as  secondary  modifications  of  this 
primary  form.  Figures  i-ro  show  the  gastrula-formation  of  a  mollusk,  the 
common  pond  snail  (Lymnceus} ,  after  the  researches  of  Carl  Rabl  ;  Fig.  11-20 
of  a  worm,  the  arrow  worm  (Sagittj,},  after  the  observations  of  Gegenbauer 
and  Hertwig.  The  letters  have  the  same  signification  in  all  the  figures. 

a..  Progaster.  /.  Entoderm.  c.  Coeloma. 

o.  Prostoma.  g.  Gonocyta.  p.  Parietal  membrane. 

e.  Ectoderm.  k.  Blastoderm.  v.  Visceral   membrane. 

b,  Blastocoeloma. 

Fig.  rand//,  primitive  cell  (Cytula)  cr  "fecundated  egg-cell,"  (also 
called  "first  stage  of  segmentation  ".).— J^ig.  2  and  12,  bipartition  of  the  Cy- 
tula.— Fig.  3  and  13,  quadripartition  of  the  same. — Fig.  4  and  14,  division  of 
the  same  into  eight  segmentations  or  bl  istomeres. — Fig.  3  and  /j",  mulberry- 
germ  (Morula). — Fig.  6  and  /6,  bladder-germ  (Blastula}  hollow  ball  in  sec- 
tion.— Fig.  7  and  //,  hooded-germ  (Depula},  invagination  of  the  blastula. — 
Fig.  8  and  18,  cup-germ  (Gastmla)  in  section. — Fig.  q  and  19,  Coelom-larva 
(Coelom-ula)  in  section.  — Fig.  10  and  2Q,  Larva  with  aperture  and  hindpart. 


234  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

formed  which  in  its  further  development,  will  soon  ex- 
hibit the   rough  outlines  of  the  animal  that  is  to  grow 

from  it. 

* 

*  * 

With  regard  to  the  formation  of  sex  by  the  two 
elements  of  fecundation  it  would  seem  as  if  the  female 
egg  tended  to  produce  male,  and  the  male  spermato- 
zoon to  produce  female  individuals.  According  to  this 
hypothesis  a  predominating  influence  on  the  part  of 
the  egg  would  produce  male  offspring,  and  a  pre- 
dominating influence  on  the  part  of  the  spermatozoon 
would  produce  female  offspring.  A  man  in  that  case 
is  not  exclusively  a  male  individual,  he  is  potentially 
a  woman  ;  and,  vice  versa,,  a  woman  is  potentially  a 
man.  If  a  man  could  have  children  without  the  co- 
operation of  woman,  they  would  be  female,  and  if  a 
woman  could  have  children  without  any  intercourse 
with  man,  they  would  be  males.  A  boy  in  that  case 
would  be  more  the  son  of  his  mother  than  of  his  father, 
and  a  girl  more  the  daughter  of  her  father  than  of  her 
mother. 

The  fact  which  'most  obviously  suggested  this 
theory  of  a  reciprocal  production  of  the  sexes  is  the 
strange  phenomenon  that  the  queen-bee  of  a  hive  lays 
eggs  without  impregnation.  All  •  these  eggs  develop 
into  drones.  The  queen  lays  eggs  that  produce  fe- 
male bees, — queens  or  workers, — only  after  fecunda- 
tion. Thus  it  is  apparent,  at  least  in  the  sexual  life 
of  the  bee,  that  the  male  element  alone  can  serve  for 
the  reproduction  of  the  female,  while  the  female  (even 
without  any  male  intercourse)  contains  all  the  condi- 
tions to  reproduce  the  male. 

The  embryo  appears  in  the  first  stages  of  its  de- 
velopment as  neutral ;  it  possesses  a  kind  of  sexual 


FECUNDATION.  235 

indifference,  so  that  it  appears  impossible  to  foretell 
its  eventual  character.  Yet  this  is  no  evidence  that 
later  circumstances  during  pregnancy  are  alone  de- 
cisive. It  may  be  that  later  circumstances  will  favor 
the  male  or  the  female,  (as  is  actually  the  case  with 
certain  plants,)  so  as  to  effect  the  formation  of  sex  in- 
directly in  the  one  or  the  other  way. 

Experiments  have  been  made  by  Knight  *  with 
melons  and  cucumbers  ;  and  he  produced  male  blos- 
soms through  warmth,  light,  and  drought,  and  female 
blossoms  by  means  of  shade,  humidity,  and  manure. 
Mauz  succeeded  by  the  same  means  in  changing  the 
sex  in  dioecious  specimens. 

Ploss  has  proposed  the  theory  that  as  a  rule  by 
poor  nutrition  more  boys  are  produced,  and  by  opu- 
lent food  more  girls.  It  is  not  impossible  and  almost 
probable  that  hunger  or  at  least  a  scarcity  of  food  ex- 
ercises a  stimulating  influence  upon  the  sexual  life, 
and  increases  the  vigor  of  the  reproductive  functions, 
so  that  the  female  mother  will  bring  forth  male  off- 
spring. 

Thury  maintains,  that  the  egg  if  fecundated  at  an 
early  period  of  its  existence  will  produce  females,  and 
if  fecundated  at  a  later  period,  it  will  produce  males. 
He  proved  his  view  by  having  cows  fecundated  in 
the  first  days  of  rut.  They  gave  birth  only  to  cows, 
while  those  fecundated  in  the  latter  days  of  their  rut 
gave  birth  to  bulls. 

Baust,  in  perfect  agreement  with  Thury's  theory, 
states  on  the  basis  of  private  observations,  which  are 
naturally  very  limited,  that  the  conceptions  effected 
during  the  first  three  days  after  the  menses  produce 

*  This  observation  and  the  facts  following  ate  reported  in  the  Natur-wis- 
senschaftliche  IVochenschrift,  III,  133. 


236  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

only  girls,    those  effected   after  the   eighth  day  only 
boys,  while  those  between  vary. 

It  is  not  impossible  that  the  young  egg  is  compara- 
tively weak  and  plastic,  that  it  constantly  keeps  gain- 
ing in  strength,  or  rather  in  stability,  so  that  there  is 
a  chance  for  the  spermatozoon  to  supplant  more  of  its 
elements  in  the  beginning  than  later  on. 

-  Hofacker  has  called  attention  to  the  relative  ages 
of  the  parents.  The  more  a  father  is  advanced  in 
years  in  comparison  with  the  mother,  the  more  the 
number  of  boys  predominates.  If  a  father  is  younger 
than  the  mother,  the  girls  are  more  numerous. 

Sadler  has  proved  that  this  rule  holds  good  upon 
the  average  for  the  English  peerage,  and  Kisch  has 
come  to  a  similar  conclusion  on  the  basis  of  statistics 
attainable  in  calenders  and  reports  of  royal  and  aris- 
tocratic families. 

Kisch's  statement  is  summed  up  as  follows  :  "If 
the  man  is  at  least  ten  years  older  than  the  woman, 
the  latter  being  at  the  height  of  her  reproductive  vigor 
(viz.,  at  an  age  of  20-25  years)  there  are  more  boys 
than  girls.  This  proportion  remains  although  not 
quite  so  pronounced  if  the  woman  is  older  than  twenty- 
six  years.  However  there  are  more  girls  than  boys 
even  if  the  man  is  older,  if  he  has  not  yet  reached  the 
height  of  his  reproductive  vigor.  The  excess  of  girls 
is  most  decided  if  the  man  and  the  woman  are  of  the 
same  age.  If  the  woman  is  older,  there  is  a  small 
excess  of  boys." 

Kisch's  rule  may  hold  good  upon  the  average. 
Nevertheless  there  are  flagrant  exceptions.  The  pres- 
ent German  Emperor,  for  instance,  although  equal  in 
years  to  the  Empress,  has  five  boys  and  no  girls. 

These  facts   again   seem   to  prove  that  upon  the 


FECUNDATION.  237 

whole  the  greater  strength  of  the  female  element  fa- 
vors the  production  of  male  children,  and  vice  versa. 

In  spite  of  all  the  fluctuations  that  take  place  in  the 
relative  numbers  of  the  sexes  in  limited  circles,  the 
average  numbers  in  whole  societies  remain  about 
equal.  This  fact  induced  Diising  to  seek  the  origin  of 
the  sex  in  the  relations  of  the  single  individuals  to  the 
whole  community.  He  maintained  that  if  male  indi- 
viduals predominate,  female  births  will  exceed  male 
births  and  vice  versa. 

Diising  founded  his  theory  upon  the  observations 
of  Mr.  Fiquet,  a  Texas  breeder  at  Houston.  Piquet 
says  :  "  It  is  a  common  occurrence  that  happens  daily 
in  the  numerous  herds  which  live  in  our  American  prai- 
ries that  a  strongly  used  bull  will  produce  steer  calves, 
while  in  the  herds  where  many  bulls  are  kept  cow- 
calves  predominate,"  In  thirty  cases,  on  ground  of 
this  observation,,  Fiquet  has  succeeded  in  producing  a 
certain  sex  without  fail. 

The  theory  of  Fiquet  and  Diising  does  not  explain 
the  origin  of  sex,  it  sums  up  certain  observations.  But 
if  the  theory  is  correct  it  finds  its  best  explanation  in 
the  hypothesis  that  the  stronger  of  the  two  elements 
in  fecundation  always  reproduces,  not  its  own,  but  the 
other  sex. 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUL-LIFE. 


INTO  psychological  discussions,  of  late,  have  been 
introduced  the  terms  < double  personality,'  'double 
soul,'  and  'double  ego.'  They  serve  for  explanations 
of  certain  problems,  but  give  rise,  in  their  turn,  to 
other  problems ;  and  to  many  minds  the  difficulties 
seem  rather  increased  than  diminished  by  the  intro- 
duction of  these  strange  combinations  of  words  that 
tend  rather  to  mystify  than  to  clear  our  ideas.  Indeed, 
authors  are  not  lacking  who  deal  with  psychological 
topics  as  if  there  were  a  psychic  fluid  floating  about 
us,  or  as  if  beside  the  conscious,  subconscious,  and  un- 
conscious activity  of  the  soul,  there  existed  a  super- 
conscious  sphere  of  psychical  manifestation.  On  the 
basis  of  these  hypotheses  of  course  everything  becomes 
possible,  and  the  human  body  may  easily  be  consid- 
ered as  the  haunting-place  of  two  or  several  ghosts. 

We  shall  abstain  here  from  controversial  discus- 
sions and  limit  our  explanation  to  a  statement  of  the 
most  important  facts  of  soul-life. 

In  a  certain  sense  each  one  of  us — every  higher  or- 
ganized creature — possesses  a  double  soul.  Organi- 
zation produces  a  union  of  many  organs,  the  interac- 
tion of  which  constitutes  the  unity  of  the  organism. 
But  the  parts  that  constitute  the  organism  are  not  at 
all  annihilated  by  their  coalition.  Every  single  cell 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUL- LIFE.          239 

continues  to  exist  as  an  individual  in  itself.  All  to- 
gether form  a  community  and  the  work  of  every  cell 
is  divided  between  caring  for  its  own  growth  and 
health,  and  contributing  to  the  common  weal  of  the 
whole  organism.  In  return  for  its  work,  it  is  bene- 
fited by  advantages  that  it  would  not  possess  if  it 
lived  a  solitary  life. 

Thus  in  every  organism  there  exist  two  spheres  of 
soul-life.  The  one  consists  of  the  activity  of  the  con- 
stituent parts ;  the  other  is  that  produced  by  their  co- 
operation. We  call  the  former  the  sphere  of  the  periph- 
eral, the  latter  that  of  the  central  soul-life  ;  and  in  this 
sense  adopt  the  term  '  double  soul.' 

The  peripheral  soul  is  the  separate  psychical  ac- 
tivities of  the  constituents  of  an  organism  ;  the  central 
soul  is  the  product  of  their  common  activity.  The 
peripheral  soul  is  the  foundation  upon  which  the  cen- 
tral soul  stands,  or  rather  it  is  the  ground  from  which 
it  grows.  The  central  soul  did  not  come  from  fairy- 
land, a  stranger,  to  inhabit  for  a  time  the  human  body 
in  company  with  the  peripheral  soul.  The  central 
soul  was  born  in  its  present  abode ;  the  body  in  which 
it  lives  is  its  home,  and  the  duality  of  soul-life,  thus, 
is  not  that  of  a  composition,  but  that  of  a  disintegra- 
tion. It  does  not  designate  a  descent  of  some  unknown 
power  that  comes  from  above ;  it  is  the  rising  of  aspi- 
rations that  are  lifted  from  below  to  higher  spheres. 

Some  time  before  the  terms  double  ego  and  double 
soul  were  employed  by  modern  psychologists,  Pro- 
fessor Hseckel  had  spoken  of  the  double  soul  of  the 
Siphonophore,  a  Medusa  of  the  Mediterranean  sea. 
The  Siphonophore,  consisting  of  many  single  indi- 
viduals and  yet  exhibiting  unitary  perception  and  will, 
is  popularly  called  a  colonial  sea-nettle. 


240 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


FIG.  3- 


FIG.  4, 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUL-LIFE.          241 


FIG.  g. 


FIG.  10. 


FIGS.  7  AND  8. 


A  COLONIAL  SEA-NETTLE  OR  SIPHONOPHORE  CONSISTS  OF: 

A  STEM  (fig.  i  a).  It  is  an  elongated  hollow  polyp,  closed  at  the  lower  end 
and  having  an  air-bladder  (fig.  i  a'  and  fig.  2)  at  its  upper  end. 

THE  AIR-BLADDER  (fig.  2)  consists  of  an  outer  skin  e,  and  an  air-bag/",  with  a 
villous  appendix  (f'z}. 

LOCOMOTORS  OR  PROPELLORS.  Fig.  i  »z,  (fig.  j  seen  from  below,  fig.  8  from  the 
side.)  Motion  is  caused  when  from  the  orifice  (fig.  7 a)  the  water  is  ex- 
pelled, fig.  7  and  fig.  8£  the  web,  c  and  d  contracting  fibres. 

FEEDERS  OR  NUTRITIVE  POLYPS  (fig.  in,  fig.  3  a  to  f}.  Connection  with  the 
stem  a  ;  skin  of  the  feeder  l> ;  intestines  c;  liver  glands  d ;  throat  e  \  mouth 
f .  The  assimilated  food  flows  through  a  into  the  cavity  of  the  stem, 
whence  it  is  distributed  through  the  different  orifices  (fig.  2 a,  $a,  4  a,  5 a, 
ga,  zoa)  to  the  other  polyps. 

PREHENSILE  FILAMENTS  (fig.  i/,  fig.  3  g  to  m,  and  fig.  4).  Skin  £•;  hollow  in- 
terior h  ;  arms  / ;  bell-shaped  envelope  of  the  arm  k  ;  nettle-battery  / ;  net- 
tle-filament ;«. 

SHIELD,  OR  PROTECTING  POLYP  (fig.  i  o,  fig.  5  k) .  It  covers  the  feeders  £,  and 
the  feelers  h. 

FEELERS  OR  SENTIENT  POLYPS  (fig.  I  t,  and  fig.  6). 

MALE  AND  FEMALE  POLYPS  (fi.  i  g,  fig.  g  and  fig.  10).  Their  bells  b,  theii  stom- 
ach d,  sperma  c  is  formed  in  the  walls  of  the  polyp  The  stomach  of  the 
female  is  filled  with  eggs. 


242  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

Professor  Haeckel  says : 

"  The  Siphonophores  or  colonial  sea-nettles  are  found  floating 
on  the  smooth  surface  of  the  tropical  seas,  yet  only  at  certain  sea- 
sons and  not  in  great  numbers.  They  belong  to  the  most  gorgeous 
formations  of  nature's  inexhaustible  wealth,  and  whoever  has  been 
fortunate  enough  to  witness  the  sight  of  living  siphonophores,  will 
never  forget  the  glorious  spectacle  of  their  wonderful  forms  and 
motions.  These  siphonophores  are  best  compared  to  a  floating 
flower-bush,  the  leaves,  blossoms,  and  fruits  of  which  look  like 
polished  crystal-glass  of  the  most  graceful  forms  and  delicate  colors. 

"  Each  single  appendage  of  the  floating  bush  is  a  separate  Me- 
dusa, an  individual  in  itself.  But  all  the  different  Medusae  of  the 
community  through  division  of  labor  have  assumed  different  spe- 
cialized forms.  One  part  of  the  Medusa-community  controls  simply 
the  natatory  function  (m),  another  the  reception  of  food  and 
digestion  («),  a  third  sense-perception  (/),  a  fourth  defense  and  ag- 
gression, a  fifth  the  production  of  eggs,  etc.  All  the  different  func- 
tions which  a  single  Medusa  performs,  are  in  the  present  case 
thus  distributed  among  the  different  citizens  of  the  sea-nettle 
colony  ;  and  all  the  individuals  have  transformed  their  bodies  to 
accord  with  their  respective  duties. 

"As  in  a  community  of  ants,  so  in  the  Siphonophore-republic, 
a  number  of  differently  formed  animals  have  combined  into  a  kind 
of  higher  social  organization.  But,  while  in  the  republic  of  ants, 
which  is  of  a  much  higher  order,  the  ideal  bond  of  social  interests 
and  that  of  a  political  sense  of  duty  unites  all  the  individuals  as 
free  and  independent  citizens,  in  .the  Siphonophore-republic  the 
members  of  the  community  are  by  bodily  connection  riveted  like 
slaves  directly  to  the  yoke  of  their  communal  unity.  Still,  even 
in  this  close  coherence  each  person  is  endowed  with  an  individual 
soul  of  its  own.  If  severed  from  the  common  stem,  it  can  move 
about  and  live  and  have  an  independent  being.  The  entire  sea- 
nettle,  as  a  whole,  also  possesses  a  will  of  its  own — a  central  will, 
on  which  the  single  individual  depends.  It  possesses  a  common 
sensation  which  at  once  communicates  the  perceptions  of  the  single 
individuals  to  all  the  others.  Thus,  each  of  the  Medusa-citizens 
might  well  exclaim  with  Faust : 

'  Two  souls,  alas  !  do  dwell  within  my  breast.' 

w  "The egoistic  soul  of  the  individual  lives  in  compromise  with 
the  social  soul  of  the  community. 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUL- LIFE.          243 

"  Woe  to  any  Medusa,  that  in  the  infatuation  of  egotism  would 
break  away  from  the  communal  stock,  in  order  to  lead  an  indepen- 
dent life  !  Unable  to  perform  all  the  particular  functions  that  are 
indispensable  to  its  self-preservation,  most  of  which  were  per- 
formed by  its  several  fellow-citizens,  it  needs  must  soon  perish, 
if  it  be  detached  from  its  old  companions.  For  one  Medusa  of  the 
Siphonophore  can  only  float,  another  only  feel,  a  third  only  feed, 
a  fourth  only  catch  prey  and  repel  enemies,  etc.  Only  the  har- 
monious cooperation  and  the  reciprocal  support  of  all  its  members, 
only  the  communal  consciousness,  only  the  central  soul,  linking  all 
together  in  bonds  of  faithful  love,  can  impart  a  lasting  stability  to 
the  existence  of  both  the  individuals  and  their  totality.  In  the 
same  manner  also  in  human  affairs,  only  the  faithful  fulfillment 
of  political  and  social  duties  by  the  citizens  of  a  country  ensures 
the  permanent  existence  of  civilized  states." 

Man  no  less  than  the  colonial  sea-nettle  possesses 
a  double  soul.  The  peripheral  soul  of  man  consists 
of  the  many  different  activities  of  such  cells  as  do  not 
stand  in  a  direct  relation  to  the  central  soul-life  of  his 
organism.  And  by  central  soul  we  understand  that 
part  of  our  mind,  which  makes  up  the  sphere  of  con- 
sciousness. 

The  spheres  of  the  peripheral  and  the  central  soul 
are  not  distinctly  separated  by  a  definite  boundary. 
The  transition  from  the  one  to  the  other  is  almost  im- 
perceptible, and  although  there  is  an  enormous  amount 
of  peripheral  soul-activity  that  is  never  illuminated  by, 
and  apparently  can  never  be  accompanied  with,  con- 
sciousness (let  me  only  mention  the  nervous  activity 
of  all  the  details  of  digestion,  the  work  done  by  the 
kidneys,  the  liver,  etc.,),  there  is  also  a  vast  neutral 
territory  which  is  now  conscious,  now  unconscious. 
The  main  tracts  of  this  neutral  territory,  which,  accord- 
ing to  our  wants,  may  not  be  or  may  be  connected 
with  consciousness,  might  fairly  be  included  in  the 
term  central  soul. 


244  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

There  are  innumerable  nerve-ganglions  in  our  body, 
whose  work  is  steadily  performed  without  our  being 
conscious  of  it.  Indeed,  it  is  the  smallest  part  of  the 
psychical  processes  going  on  within  us,  of  which 
we  become  conscious.  This  fact  by  no  means  proves 
that  unconscious  activity  proceeds  without  any  feeling. 
It  proves  only  that  the  feeling  of  these  peripheral 
ganglions  stands  in  no  direct  connection  with  the  con- 
scious life  of  our  central  soul.  The  feeling  of  periph- 
eral ganglions  must  be  of  a  lower  kind,  it  is  ex- 
tremely vague  and  dim  in  comparison  with  that  of 
central  soul-life,  where,  by  a  specialization,  it  has  be- 
come extraordinarily  strong.  Sometimes,  however, 
in  abnormal  conditions  of  things,  caused  by  disease, 
the  feeling  of  the  peripheral  ganglions  may  be  so  in- 
tensified that  we  do  become  conscious  of  it  in  the  form 
of  pains  and  the  various  kinds  of  aches. 

The  peripheral  and  central  soul-life  continually 
intertwine.  The  labors  of  conscious  activity  that 
may  have  been  performed  with  the  intensest  attention, 
will  sink  down  into  the  night  of  unconsciousness,  and 
vice  versa,  unconscious  memories  of  the  past,  that 
seem  irredeemably  lost  to  our  recollection,  continue  to 
live  ;  they  sometimes  combine  with  other,  kindred  or 
antagonistic,  ideas,  and  then  their  logical  results  only, 
the  product  of  their  combination,  unexpectedly  and 
suddenly  flash  up  on  the  surface  of  our  conscious  be- 
ing. And  we — /.  <?.,  in  this  case,  our  central  soul — do 
not  know  whence  they  come.  They  haunt  us  like 
voices  of  spirits  from  a  distant  beyond. 

Our  conscious  ego  covers  a  very  narrow  space. 
Only  one  or  two  and  certainly  no  more  than  a  few 
ideas  can  at  one  and  the  same  time  be  accompanied 
with  consciousness.  How  poor  would  we  be,  if  our 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUL-LIFE. 


245 


mental  existence  were  limited  to  that.  Happily,  we 
can  constantly  derive  new  vigor  and  recreation  from 
the  spheres  of  our  unconscious  soul-life. 

Could  we  look  into  the  interior  of  a  human  brain, 
and  did  we  understand  all  the  many  vibrations  and 
motions  of  the  nerve-substance,  we  would  undoubtedly 
be  struck  with  the  quantity  of  unconscious  work  that 
is  being  carried  on  there  all  the  time.  We  should 
observe  how  many  millions  of  memories  (every  one  of 
them  having  a  special  structure  of  its  own)  are  con- 
stantly nourished  by  the  oxygen-freighted  corpuscles 
of  the  blood  which  surround  them  in  the  delicate  capil- 
laries. 


LOCALIZATION   OF   CERTAIN    FUNCTIONS   ACCORDING   TO   EXNER, 
IN   ORDER  TO   SHOW   THEIR   DISTRIBUTION. 

The  places  where  the  different  kinds  of  mem- 
ories are  located  do  not  form,  as  has  been  supposed, 
distinct  provinces  separated  by  definite  boundaries. 


246  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

They  are  promiscuously  distributed,  yet  there  are  cor- 
ners where  memories  of  the  same  kind  are  thickly 
crowded.  In  the  parietal  circumvolutions  of  the  cor- 
tex, round  about  the  fissure  Rolando,*  we  see  the  move- 
ments of  our  limbs  in  their  most  complicated  combi- 
nations. Below  the  fissure  of  Silvius  are  images  of 
sound.  There  are  all  the  old  nursery  rhymes,  college 
songs,  sonatas,  and  operas,  that  have  delighted  us. 
Near  by  are  the  words  of  our  mother  tongue.  They 
live  deep  in  the  folds  of  the  fissure  Silvius,  in  the 
third  frontal  circumvolution  and  are  largely  dispersed 
over  the  sphenoidal  lobe.  All  the  verses  of  our  child- 
hood, of  which  we  have  not  thought  for  years  and 
years,  are  there  still  preserved.  The  front  corner  of 
the  sphenoidal  lobe  is  the  seat  of  smell,  f  perfumes,  and 
odors — disagreeable  and  pleasant.  The  hind  part  of 
the  cortex  in  the  occipital  lobej  is  full  of  images,  it 
glows  with  colored  pictures  of  all  kinds.  There  are 
the  dear  old  faces  of  our  friends,  there  are  landscapes 
and  all  manner  of  instantaneous  photographs  of  former 
sights  and  experiences.  In  the  three  frontal  circum- 
volutions those, thoughts  are  throbbing  that  are  of  a 
more  abstract  order.  There  are  philosophical  reflec- 
tions and  mathematical  problems.  Now  and  then  one 
or  the  other  idea  looms  out  like  a  memorial  of  a  na- 
tional victory  more  powerfully  than  the  rest.  They 
are  the  memories  of  successful  thoughts,  of  happy 
solutions  of  difficult  problems.  What  an  astounding 
throng  of  different  structures,  and  all  alive  and  con- 
sisting of  feeling  nerve-substance  ! 

*  Gyrus  centralis,  lobulus  pr&centralis,  and  the  regions  about  theflr&cu- 
neus,  according  to  Fritsch-Hitzig  and  Ferrier. 

t  Gyrus  hypocampi,  according  to  Munk ;  gyrus  uncinatus,  according  to 
Ferrer. 

$  According  to  Munk  and  Ferrier. 


THE  NATURE  OF  SOUL- LIFE.          247 

This  is  the  physiological  aspect  of  the  brain.  Psy- 
chologically considered  our  mind  is  an  immense  em- 
pire of  innumerable  spirits  that  here  live  together  in 
the  narrow  space  of  about  a  quarter  of  a  cubic  foot. 
Spirits  they  are,  because  they  are  psychical  existences, 
they  are  framed  by  the  memories  of  organized  sub- 
stance. Yet  at  the  same  time  they  are  material  re- 
alities ;  they  are  living  forms  of  bodily  presence,  sus- 
tained by  the  nourishing  currents  of  the  blood. 

This  vast  spiritual  empire  in  the  human  brain  is 
excellently  provided  for  with  highways  and  by-ways  for 
intercommunication.  The  communications  are  called 
by  physiologists  commissural  fibers,  by  psychologists 
associations.  If  it  so  happens  that  in  the  state  of  un- 
conscious activity  a  certain  number  of  ideas  associate, 
and  then  if  they  have  formed  a  new  unity  (the  solution 
of  a  problem,  a  discovery,  an  invention  or  a  poem), 
their  life  becomes  more  excited  so  that  they  make 
themselves  felt.  They  are  ushered  into  our  conscious- 
ness like  an  inspiration  from  heaven.  Is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that  the  poet,  the  artist^  the  prophet  are 
under  the  impression  that  they  are  instruments  merely 
in  the  hands  of  a  Greater  One  than  themselves?  They 
feel  influenced  by  a  foreign  and  a  supernatural  power, 
over  which  they  have  no  control.  And  this  is  true  in 
a  certain  sense.  As  the  limbs  and  the  whole  body  of 
a  child  grow  without  the  assistance  of  his  conscious- 
ness, or  as  plants  germinate  and  blow  and  bring  seed, 
so  the  thoughts  of  a  man  in  the  shape  of  delicate  brain- 
structures  which  are  the  organs  of  his  feeling  and 
thinking,  grow  and  develop  even  in  spite  of  him,  even 
if  he  should  attempt  to  oppose  their  development.  It  is 
not  we  who  make  our  thoughts  thirik,  but  our  thoughts 
are  thinking,  and  their  thinking  is  sometimes  accom- 


248  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

parried'  with  consciousness.  Therefore,  we  should  say, 
as  Lichtenberg  proposes,  "it  thinks,"  just  as  we  say: 
"  it  lightens,"  or  "it  rains." 

Experimental  psychology  has  furnished  us  with 
many  new  data  of  abnormal  soul-life  through  patho- 
logical observations  and  hypnotic  experiments.  How 
odd  and  incredible,  indeed,  at  first  sight,  almost  im- 
possible, do  these  recent  acquisitions  of  psychological 
research  appear.  And  yet  they  find  their  parallels  in 
well  known  and  common  facts  of  mental  activity — in 
facts  that  every  one  can  verify  by  his  own  experience. 
If  the  facts  are  but  clearly  stated  in  their  parallelism, 
what  a  flood  of  light  do  they  shed  upon  all  the  prob- 
lems of  abnormal  soul-life  ! 


CENTRAL  AND  PERIPHERAL  SOUL-LIFE. 


THE  experiments  of  M.  Alfred  Binet*  prove  that 
in  the  limbs  and  sense-organs  of  hysterical  persons  we 
can  provoke  "various  complex  movements  of  adapta- 
tion which  are  performed  without  consciousness. 
There  are  certain  details  of  vision  that  escape  con- 
sciousness, yet  are  perceived  by  the  eye.  Similarly 
the  anaesthetic  hand,  a  hand  that  from  a  nervous  dis- 
ease is  deprived  of  sensibility,  jots  down  in  automatic 
writing  impressions  which  it  receives.  The  hand  is 
called  anaesthetic  because  the  patient  knows  nothing 
about  it ;  it  is  not  in  connection  with  his  conscious- 
ness. M.  Binet  proves  that  feeling  is  not  extinct  in 
it  ;  for  it  has  a  feeling  of  its  own  and  its  psychic  acts 
show  a  certain  intelligence  or  adaptability. 

The  experiments  of  M.  Binet  are  instances  of 
peripheral  nerve-activity  not  entering  into  the  sphere 
of  central  soul-life. 

Experiments  of  a  similar  kind  were  made  by  the 
late  Mr.  Gurney,  one  of  the  founders  of  the  Society 
for  Psychical  Research  of  London.  From  an  accountf 
of  his  experiments  on  "  Intelligent  Automatism,"  re- 
ported, in  the  main,  in  Mr.  Gurney's  own  words,  we 
quote  the  following  : 

*  Published  in  THE  OPEN  COURT  :  No.  100,  "  Proof  of  Double  Conscious- 
ness in  Hysterical  Individuals  "  ;  No.  101,  "The  Relations  Between  the  Two 
Consciousnesses  of  Hysterical  Individuals  "  ;  No.  102,  "  The  Hysterical  Eye  "  ; 
and  No.  112,  "  Mechanism  or  Subconsciousness  ?  " 

t  Spectator,  June  30,  1888. 


250  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

"  Mr.  G.  A.  Smith,  the  '  hypnotiser,'  sent  off  one  of  the  pa- 
tients into  a  mesmeric  sleep,  and  in  this  sleep  the  patient  was  told 
that  he  was  to  write  some  particular  word,  or  to  count  the  number 
of  ^'s  in  a  particular  verse,  or  to  do  a  particular  multiplication 
sum  when  he  awoke Then  he  was  wakened  and  at  once  en- 
gaged in  reading  aloud,  or  counting  backwards,  or  doing  something 
that  engrossed  his  full  attention  ;  but  his  right  hand  was  placed  on 
the  planchette  (an  instrument  on  wheels  containing  a  pencil),  the 
paper  and  planchette  being  always  concealed  from  the  subject's 
eyes,  so  that  he  could  not  know,  unless  he  were  able  to  guess  from 
the  blind  movements  of  the  instrument  under  his  hand  (which 
guessing  was  made  very  difficult  by  the  occupation  found  for  him), 
what  letters  or  figures  (if  any)  the  instrument  was  tracing.  '  As 
a  rule,  he  was  always  offered  a  sovereign  to  say  what  the  writing 
was,  but  the  reward  was  never  gained.'  On  being  sent  back  into 
the  mesmeric  sleep,  he  recalled  the  whole  process,  though  in  the 
waking  state  he  could  never  tell  what  the  movements  of  the 
planchette  under  his  hand  were  engaged  in  producing.  Here  is 
Mr.  Gurney's  account  of  the  results  as  regards  the  arithmetical 
sums  worked  by  what  he  calls  the  '  secondary  intelligence  '  : — 

"  The  sums  given  were  simple,  as  most  of  the  '  subjects  '  were 
inexpert  at  mental  arithmetic.  There  were  131  sums  in  which 
three  figures  had  to  be  multiplied  by  a  single  one  ;  of  these  52  were 
quite  right,  28  had  three  figures  in  the  answer  right,  18  had  two 
figures  right,  and  14  had  one  figure  right  only,  whilst  12  were  quite 
wrong,  and  7  were  either  so  illegible  and  muddled  as  to  be  unde- 
cipherable, or  only  a  small  stroke  or  curve  was  made  at  all 

In  some  cases  the  sum  itself  was  correctly  written,  but  no  attempt 

was  made  to  put  the  answer A  few  sums  of  other  kinds 

were  also  given  :  of  14  simple  additions  (of  about  the  following  dif- 
ficulty :  4  -{-  7  +  9  -r  ii  +  13),  six  were  done  correctly,  two  were 
quite  wrong,  and  the  remaining  six  were  either  not  done  at  all,  or 

the  answers  were  illegible  scribbles Another  case  illustrates 

the  very  distinct  memory,  on  re-hypnotisation,  of  what  had  been 
written.  Wells  was  told  to  work  out  the  sum,  '  13  loaves  at  5d. 
each,'  and  instantly  woke  as  usual.  He  wrote,  '  13  loaf  at  5d.  is 
53.  5d.'  When  hypnotized  again,  and  asked  to  say  what  he  had 
written,  he  replied,  '  13  loaf — oh,  I've  put  loaf  instead  of  loaves — 
at  5d.  is  53.  5d.  I've  written  the  13  twice — see — but  I  crossed  it 
out.'  He  then  proceeded,  by  a  long  roundabout  process,  to  work 
the  problem  out,  arriving  at  the  correct  answer  again. 


CENTRAL  AND  PERIPHERAL  SOUL.     251 

' '  Another  form  of  experiment  was  to  tell  the  '  subject '  to  count 
the  number  of  times  a  certain  letter  occurred  in  a  given  verse. 
Thus,  Wells  was  told  to  write  down  the  number  of  times  the  letter 
e  occurred  in  the  verse — "  Mary  had  a  little  lamb,  etc.,"  and  then, 
after  saying-the  verse  once  quickly  through  to  show  that  he  knew 
it,  he  was  instantly  awakened  and  given  Tit-Bits  to  read.  Whilst 
thus  engaged  he  wrote,  The  letter  E  comes  n  times — which  is  right. 
The* same  experiment  was  tried  with  Parsons,  who  also  was  kept 
occupied  by  being  set  to  read  immediately  upon  waking  ;  but  he 
was  not  so  accurate,  and  wrote  down  '12.'  He  was  completely 
successful,  however,  when  told  to  write  the  number  of  e's  in 

'  God  save  our  gracious  Queen, 
Long  live  our  noble  Queen, 
God  save  the  Queen,' 

and  wrote  n,  having  read  excellently  the  whole  time." 

Concerning  Mr.  Gurney's  explanation  of  these 
facts,  the  same  account  adds  : 

"  His  inference  is  that  these  trances  induced  by  mesmerism, 
or  whatever  we  like  to  call  the  peculiar  influence  which  special 
persons  seem  to  possess  of  rendering  others  unconscious, — sepa- 
rates the  mind  of  the  patient  into  two  separate  planes  of  conscious- 
ness, each  of  which  is  capable  of  accomplishing  such  simple  intel- 
lectual tasks  as  the  subject's  education  has  fitted  him  to  perform, 
but  nevertheless  without  the  privity  of  the  other,  so  that  the  man 
is  apparently  subdivided  into  two  men,  one  of  whom  is  reading 
aloud,  and  the  other  working  a  sum  or  counting  the  number  of 
<?'s  in  a  stanza,  though  the  man  who  is  doing  the  sum  has  little 
or  no  knowledge  of  what  his  alter  ego  is  reading  aloud  ;  while  the 
man  who  is  reading  aloud  has  no  knowledge  at  all  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  alter  ego  who  is  doing  the  sum." 

According  to  our  view  these  two  souls  are  not  two 
different  beings,  but  they  are  psychic  activities  per- 
formed in  two  different  spheres — the  spheres  of  cen- 
tral and  peripheral  soul-life.  If  the  activity  of  periph- 
eral soul-life  is  not  connected  with  that  of  the  central 
soul-life,  the  central  soul  can  know  nothing  about  the 
processes  that  take  place  in  the  peripheral  regions  of 
our  mind.  Accordingly  we  call  them  unconscious.  If 


252  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  peripheral  nerve-activity  is  indirectly,  yet  not  too 
distantly,  connected  with  the  central  soul,  we  may 
have  a  dim  idea  of  its  proceedings.  Thus,  we  do  not 
know  whether  the  nerves  of  our  intestines  are  now 
secreting  particles  of  fat  or  albuminoids  or  any  other 
substance,  yet  we  can  know  upon  the  whole  whether 
or  not  they  are  in  a  state  of  health.  Such  conditions 
we  call  subconscious. 

The  experiments  of  Mr.  Gurney  as  well  as  those  of 
M.  Binet  corroborate  the  fact  that  every  nervous  gang- 
lion is  a  brain  in  miniature,  as  vice  versa  the  whole 
brain  is  but  a  centralization  of  many  ganglions.  All 
nervous  substance  exhibits,  in  the  performance  of 
the  psychic  functions  of  irritation  and  reflex  motion 
throughout,  a  marvelous  adaptability  to  circumstances. 
Thus,  the  decapitated  frog,  when  his  back  is  irritated 
on  the  right  side  by  a  feather  saturated  in  a  solution 
of  hydrochloric  acid,  scratches  the  spot  and  removes 
the  irritant. 

This  might  be  called  a  simple  reflex  motion  and 
can  perhaps  be  explained  as  purely  mechanical.  Form- 
erly it  was  believed  to  take  place  without  any  con- 
sciousness. But  now  it  is  known,  that  if  the  frog's 
right  leg  be  amputated  and  his  back  be  again  irritated, 
after  several  unsuccessful  trials  to  remove  the  irritant 
by  his  right  leg,  he  will  use  his  left  leg. 

This  is  plainly  a  process  of  adaptation  to  circum- 
stances. The  central  soul  of  the  decapitated  frog,  as 
can  be  proven  by  other  experiments,  has  been  removed  ; 
but  parts  of  the  peripheral  soul  still  continue  their 
activity  in  the  spinal  cord  so  long  as  the  nervous  sub- 
stance remains  in  a  condition  of  comparative  health. 
And  the  activity  of  the  peripheral  nerve-substance 
cannot  be  merelv  mechanical  as  are  the  movements  of 


CENTRAL  AND  PERIPHERAL  SO UL.     253 

a  machine;  judging  from  the  experiment  of  the  frog, 
they  must  be  psychical  at  the  same  time.  The  mech- 
anism of  nervous  reflex- motions  lives  and  feels.  Even 
the  peripheral  ganglions  possess  a  kind  of  conscious- 
ness of  their  own,  dim  though  it  may  be. 

There  is  no  difference  of  kind  between  the  periph- 
eral and  central  soul,  there  is  a  difference  of  degree 
only.  And  the  difference  that  obtains  is  undoubtedly 
produced  by  a  division  of  labor.  This  will  at  the  same 
time  explain  the  fact  that  the  lower  a  nervous  system  is, 
the  more  independent  are  its  peripheral  ganglia.  The 
central  soul-life  is  less  differentiated  in  a  frog  than  in 
man,  and  still  less  in  a  colonial  sea-nettle. 

The  decapitated-frog  experiment  is  in  so  far  to  the 
same  purpose  as  Mr.  Gurney's  and  M.  Binet's  experi- 
ments, for  it  proves  the  independent  action  of  periph- 
eral soul-life  without  any  interference  of,  or  connec- 
tion with,  central  soul-life. 

The  phenomena  of  peripheral  and  central  soul-life 
are  not  a  coordinated  duality  ;  they  form  a  hierarchical, 
i.  e.,  a  super- ordinated  system.  The  central  soul  rises 
from  the  peripheral  soul.  The  former  being  taken 
away,  the  latter  may  continue  to  exist ;  but  we  see  no 
possibility  for  the  central  soul  to  exist,  if  its  foundation, 
the  peripheral  soul,  is  withdrawn.  We  can  remove 
the  spire  of  a  church-steeple,  and  let  the  base  stand, 
but  we  can  not  remove  the  base  and  have  the  spire 
remain  in  its  place.  Thus  the  central  soul  of  con- 
sciousness, being  the  combined  product  of  a  certain  part 
of  the  activity  of  the  peripheral  soul,  can  not  lead  an 
absolute  life  of  abstract  existence.  It  subsists  and  can 
subsist  only  upon  condition  of  the  peripheral  activity 
of  the  nervous  system. 

How  closely  the  central  and  the  peripheral  activities 


254  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

are  interwoven,  can  be  learned  from  the  facts  of  post- 
hypnotic  suggestions.  Mr.  Gurney's  experiments  were 
purposely  so  arranged  as  to  make  the  execution  of  a 
post-hypnotic  suggestion  an  act  of  automatic  and  un- 
conscious intelligence.  This,  however,  is  a  special 
case  only  and  indeed  an  exception. 

Post-hypnotic  suggestions,  as  a  rule,  rise  from  the 
peripheral  sphere  of  unconscious  life  into  the  region 
of  consciousness.  There  they  appear  as  if  created  out 
of  nothing  in  no  other  manner  than  inspirations  may 
come  to  a  poet.  The  central  soul  is  in  possession  of 
certain  data  ;  but  it  can,  out  of  itself  merely,  give  no 
account  of  their  origin.  A  number  of  conscious  ideas 
are  a  living  presence  in  the  mind,  and  that  is  all  that 
from  consciousness  alone  can  be  learned.  Their  factors 
may  be,  and  usually  are,  hidden  in  the  depth  of  uncon- 
sciousness. The  result  only  of  nervous  activity  be- 
comes conscious,  but  not  the  details  of  its  conditions. 
Consciousness  knows  least  of  all  about  the  nervous 
fibers,  the  brain-cells,  and  their  distribution. 

The  subjects  who  have  received  post-hypnotic  sug- 
gestions deal  with  them  very  differently.  They  either 
execute  them  without  heeding  what  they  do,  almost 
unconsciously  ;  or,  especially  if  the  suggestions  are 
absurd,  they  try  to  suppress  them.  Some  succeed  in 
doing  so,  some  yield  to  their  impulse  after  a  vain 
struggle.  Some  execute  them,  and  if  asked  why  they 
act  thus,  they  either  invent  a  plausible  motive  or  an- 
swer that  the  idea  just  struck  them  to  do  it. 

We  quote  an  example  from  Forel's  latest  publica- 
tion on  Hypnotism  : 

"  I  said  to  a  hypnotized  patient :  '  After  awaking  the  idea  will 
occur  to  you  to  place  a  chair  upon  the  table,  and  then  to  tap  me 
on  the  left  shoulder  with  your  right  hand. '  I  then  ordered  him  to  do 


CRN TRA L  AND PRRIPHERA L  SOUL.     255 

several  other  things,  adding  :  '  Count  as  far  as  six,  and  awake. 
The  patient  counted  and  when  he  reached  six,  opened  his  eyes 
drowsily,  saw  a  chair  and  stared  at  it. — Often  there  arises  a  con- 
flict between  reason  and  the  powerful  impulse  of  suggestion.  Either 
the  former  or  the  latter  will  gain  the  upper  hand  according  as  the 
suggestion  is  natural  or  unnatural  and  as  the  hynotized  subject  is 
suggestible.  Our  hypnotized  subject  after  having  stared  at  the 
chair  for  awhile,  suddenly  rose,  took  the  chair  and  placed  it  on  the 
table.  I  said  :  '  Why  do  you  do  this  ? '  The  reply  always  varies  ac- 
cording to  the  culture,  temperament,  and  quality  of  the  hypnotized 
subject  and  of  the  hypnosis.  One  will  say  :  '  I  followed  my  im- 
pulse.' Another  :  '  The  idea  occurred  to  me.'  A  third  alleges  an 
a  posteriori  motive  saying,  the  chair  had  been  in  his  way,  it  had 
bothered  him.  A  fourth  after  the  performance  of  the  action,  loses 
every  recollection  and  appears  to  awaken  at  that  very  moment. 
Particularly  in  the  last  instance  the  subject  has  the  staring  glance 
of  a  somnambulist  ,  it  is  more  or  less  rigid,  his  movements  are  au- 
tomatic, and  do  not  cease  to  be  so  until  after  the  performance  of 
the  act." 

Another  curious  instance  mentioned  by  Dr.  Forel 
is  the  following  : 

' '  To  a  hypnotized  woman  I  said  on  a  Monday  :  '  Next  Sunday 
morning  precisely  at  quarter  past  seven  you  will  call  on  me.  You 
will  see  me  in  a  sky-blue  coat,  with  two  long  horns  on  my  head, 
and  you  will  then  ask  me,  when  I  was  born.'  Next  Sunday  I  was 
sitting  in  my  study,  and  had  forgotten  the  whole  affair.  My  pa- 
tient at  thirty-five  minutes  past  seven  knocked  at  my  door,  entered, 
and  burst  into  laughter.  I  at  once  recollected  my  suggestion,  which 
now  was  actually  realized,  exactly  in  the  manner  it  was  given." 

In  the  waking  state  the  central  soul  plays  a  domi- 
nant part.  This  is  accomplished  positively  as  well  as 
negatively  ;  positively  by  concentration  and  negatively 
by  inhibition.  The  consciousness  of  the  central  soul 
can  be  and  usually  is  concentrated  upon  one  object, 
viz.,  the  object  of  attention.  But  all  the  many  sen- 
sory impressions  that  are  received  in  all  quarters  of 
the  periphery  would  greatly  detract  from  the  clearness 
of  attention,  if  they  were  constantly  permitted  to  enter 


256  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  sphere  of  the  central  soul  and  to  interfere  with  its 
activity.  The  central  soul,  if  concentrated  upon  a  sub- 
ject of  interest,  sees  fit  not  to  heed  other  things,  it 
suppresses  their  observation. 

For  instance,  I  am  writing  now  and  do  not  notice 
certain  noises  about  me.  I  look  up  from  my  paper 
to  collect  my  thoughts,  but  I  do  not  observe  the  scenes 
outside  of  the  window  upon  which  I  look.  They  are 
indifferent  to  me,  and  if  afterwards  asked  what  I  had 
heard  or  what  I  had  seen,  most  likely  I  should  not  be 
able  to  tell.  I  heard  the  noises — the  word  "I"  here 
signifies  my  ears;  I  heard  certain  words  but  I  did  not 
listen — the  word  "  I  "  here  signifies  my  consciousness. 
I  saw  certain  things,  but  I  did  not  look  ;  so  I  can- 
not tell  what  I  heard  or  what  I  saw.  My  conscious- 
ness on  the  one  hand,  and  my  eyes  or  ears  on  the 
other,  are  two  different  things. 

It  may  happen,  however,  that  the  sound  of  a  word 
that  I  did  not  heed  lingers  in  my  memory  still.  I  re- 
call the  sound,  and  now  !  perceive  its  meaning  too. 
A  certain  scene  that  I  glanced  at  in  an  absent-minded 
state,  may  have  impressed  itself  strongly  enough  as 
afterwards  to  come  up  in  my  recollection.  Some  per- 
sons passed  by ;  my  eye  had  seen  them,  but  1  had 
taken  no  notice  of  them.  Being  asked  whether  a  cer- 
tain acquaintance  of  mine  had  been  among  them,  I 
might  then  positively  know  that  he  was. 

If  we  could  ask  the  eye,  it  would  certainly  always 
be  able  to  tell  what  it  had  seen.  If  we  could  look  into 
the  memories  registered  in  some  of  the  sensory  gang- 
lions, we  could  know  what  scenes  were  photographed 
by  the  eye  ;  for  every  scene  upon  which  the  eye  looked 
is  registered  in  nerve-substance.  We  can,  however, 
not  expect  to  recollect  a  sensation  that  was  prohibited 


CENTRAL  AND  PERIPHERAL  SOUL.     257 

to  enter,  and  thus  never  entered,  our  consciousness. 
The  following  account  from  Max  Dessoir,*is  of  special 
interest. 

"  Several  friends  were  at  my  house,  and  one  of  them,  Mr. 

W ,  sat  apart  reading,  while  we  others  were  talking  together. 

Suddenly  the  conversation   turned    upon   a  name  X ,    which 

particularly  interested  Mr.  W .     He  abruptly   turned  round, 

and  asked  what  had  happened  to  Mr.  X —  He  declared,  that 
he  knew  nothing  of  our  previous  conversation  ;  and  that  he  only 
had  heard  the  name  mentioned.  Then,  with  his  consent,  I  hyp- 
notized him,  and  in  the  state  of  deep  hypnosis  I  asked  him  again, 
and  to  our  great  astonishment  he  coherently  related  the  whole 
trend  of  the  conversation  that  had  taken  place  while  he  was 
reading." 

In  another  passage  Dessoir  says  : 

"The  idea  of  the  husband  when  his  wife  scolded  him  for 
having  mislaid  the  house-key  at  the  inn,  was  after  all  not  bad. 
"Wait — said  he — until  I  get  drunk  again,  and  I  shall  certainly 
find  out  where  I  left  it." 

It  is  noteworthy,  that  in  dreams  as  well  as  in  states 
of  intoxication,  certain  people  seem  upon  the  whole  to 
reveal  always  a  similar  character  which?  however,  may 
greatly  differ  from  their  normal  condition.  The  con- 
scious life  of  the  central  soul  being  extinguished,  and 
the  inhibition  that  in  the  waking  state  is  constantly  ex- 
ercised being  abolished,  the  peripheral  soul-life  oozes 
out  in  its  originality,  and  however  it  may  differ  from 
the  waking  state  it  shows  again  and  again,  under  sim- 
ilar circumstances,  naturally  similar  traits  of  character. 
There  is  accordingly  a  truth  in  the  Latin  proverb  :"  In 
vino  veritas" 

The  same  may  be  said  about  dreams.  Dreams  re- 
veal to  us  characteristic  features  of  our  peripheral  soul- 
life. 

*  Das  Doppel-ich)  p.  19. 


DOUBLE  PERSONALITY. 


CONSCIOUSNESS,  or  the  centralized  and  intensified 
feeling  of  the  central  soul,  does  not  remain  equally  the 
same  throughout  our  life.  It  is  sometimes  more, 
sometimes  less,  intense.  Its  highest  state  of  concen- 
tration, when  it  is  most  intense,  we  call  attention,  and 
a  mental  condition  in  which  concentration  is  lacking,  we 
call  a  distracted  or  absent-minded  state.  The  Ger- 
mans in  this  sense  speak  of  a  person  as  being  "  dis- 
persed," zerstreut,  when  his  attention  is  not  focused 
upon  one  central  idea,  but  is  dimly  distributed  over  a 
larger  field. 

The  object  of  attention  is  that  idea  in  which  and  to 
which  at  a  given  moment  our  entire  psychical  activity 
converges.  It  may  be  called  the  centre  of  the  central 
soul.  It  is  that  part  of  our  soul  which,  being  the  con- 
tent of  the  present  state  of  consciousness,  represents 
at  the  time  our  ego. 

The  object  of  attention  can  and  usually  does  change 
rapidly.  Indeed  a  certain  power  of  self-control  is  nec- 
essary to  fix  attention  upon  one  object  for  any  length  of 
time.  The  importance  of  the  power  of  attention  can 
scarcely  be  overrated,  and  M.  Ribot  quotes  with  ap- 
proval Helvetius,  who  says  :  "All  intellectual  differ- 
ences between  one  man  and  another  spring  only  from 
attention." 


DOUBLE  PERSONALITY.  259 

The  central  soul,  the  ego  proper  of  man,  his  con- 
scious personality,  is  not  limited  to  the  present  state 
of  consciousness.  It  possesses  the  peculiar  quality, 
that  the  present  state  of  consciousness  is  connected 
with  the  most  important  memories  of  former  states  of 
consciousness.  In  other  words,  central  soul-life  is  a 
continuous  process,  and  its  continuity  is  felt,  it  is  con- 
scious. The  continuity  of  the  central-soul  is  its  history 
in  shape  of  living  memories,  that  stand  in  connection 
with  its  present. 

The  facts  of  our  life  are  thus  represented  in  our 
mind  in  the  shape  of  a  series  of  memories,  and  it  is 
this  series  of  memories  that  constitutes  our  person- 
ality. 

It  is  but  natural  that  under  normal  conditions  every 
man  should  have  a  personality  of  his  own.  A  man's 
personality  is  the  history  of  his  life  and  the  sum  total 
of  his  experiences.  The  memories  of  former  expe- 
riences influence  our  actions  even  now.  They  guide 
us  in  our  decisions  and  are  constituent  parts  of  our 
present  state  of  consciousness. 

If  a  certain  sensory  impression  is  perceived, — for 
instance  we  read  a  certain  sentence  in  a  book, — the 
impression  is  recognized  as  something  we  had  heard 
or  seen  before.  Most  likely  every  word  is  familiar 
to  us,  the  combination  of  words  in  this  sentence  alone 
is  new.  All  the  memories  of  these  words  are  awak- 
ened, not  only  the  memories  of  the  letters,  the  written 
words,  but  also  of  the  sounds ;  then  the  memories  of 
the  conceptions  are  revived,  the  thought-images  of 
which  these  words  are  symbols,  and  with  them  all  those 
mental  activities  that  are  therewith  associated.  Thus 
the  state  of  our  present  consciousness  is  in  a  constant 
contact  with  the  past,  it  grows  upon  and  it  adds  to  it. 


260  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

The  memories  of  old  experiences  and  the  reactions 
upon  certain  conditions  in  former  situations  are  the 
foundation  from  which  our  wishes  and  desires,  our 
hopes  and  longings,  rise  ; — they  are  the  elements  of 
that  which  as  one  whole  is  called  character — in  a  word 
they  constitute  our  conscious  personality. 

* 
*  # 

Consciousness  does  not  act  continually.  The  ac- 
tivity of  the  central  soul  sinks  at  regular  intervals  be- 
low the  level  of  consciousness.  It  goes  to  sleep  every 
night,  and  the  existence  of  the  central  soul,  it  thus  ap- 
pears, is  for  a  short  time  periodically  wiped  out. 

We  know  that  sleep  is  by  no  means  a  state  of  in- 
activity ;  but  while  in  a  waking  state  the  life  of  the 
central  soul  is  predominant,  in  sleep  the  peripheral 
soul  develops  an  unusual  activity.  It  performs  the 
work  of  restoration.  The  peripheral  organs  clean  the 
brain  of  its  waste  materials  and  restore  the  loss  of  its 
consumption,  by  building  up  those  living  nerve-struc- 
tures that  contain  the  energy  which  during  the  waking 
state  is  drawn  upon. 

In  the  deepest  sleep  all  consciousness  disappears, 
but  in  lighter  slumbers  part  of  the  borderland  between 
peripheral  and  central  soul-life  remains  active,  and  then 
forms  in  the  subumbra  of  dreams  a  new  centre  of  its 
own,  which  may  be  called  the  dream-ego.  The  dream- 
ego  need  not  be,  and,  indeed,  as  a  rule,  it  is  not  con- 
nected with  the  normal  ego  of  the  waking  state,  so 
that  usually  we  have  a  vague  recollection  only  that 
during  sleep  we  were  dreaming  of  something  but  can- 
not tell  what  it  was. 

The  ego  of  the  dream  possesses  a  chain  of  memories 
of  its  own,  which  perhaps  has  never  been  connected 
with  the  memory-chain  of  the  conscious  ego  in  the 


DOUBLE  PERSONALITY.  261 

waking  state.  In  that  case,  if  we  do  not  know  of  what 
we  dreamed,  we  cannot  properly  speak  of  our  having 
forgotten  the  dream.  We  never  knew  it,  for  it  was 
never  in  connection  with  our  consciousness.  Yet 
should  we,  on  the  day  after  the  dream,  happen  to  see 
one  of  the  objects  that  appeared  in  the  visions  of  our 
slumber,  we  might  be  enabled  by  this  observation  to 
recollect  the  whole  dream. 

We  can  easily  understand  this  fact,  for  the  sight  of 
the  object  that  we  dreamed  of  brings  the  waking  con- 
sciousness into  contact  at  one  point  with  the  memory 
chain  of  the  dream-ego.  Thus  an  association  is  pro- 
duced between  both,  and  the  whole  chain  of  the  dream- 
memories  or  a  great  part  of  them  can  be  hauled  up,  as 

it  were,  to  the  surface  of  conscious  recollection. 

* 
#  * 

There  exist  certain  cerebral  diseases,  in  which, 
the  continuity  of  the  present  state  with  past  memories 
is  interrupted  through  an  impairment  of  the  brain. 
In  such  cases  a  new  chain  of  memories  is  usually 
formed,  and  the  unconnected  states  of  consciousness 
combine  among  themselves  into  a  new  ego,  which 
(not  unlike  the  dream-ego)  on  its  own  part  is  not 
connected  with  the  original,  normal  ego.  Certain  im- 
portant memories  that  constitute  the  normal  person- 
ality being  wiped  away,  the  new  ego  may  in  all  its 
main  characteristics  be  vastly  different  from  the  normal 
ego.  When  the  normal  ego  reappears,  it  knows  nothing 
of  the  second  ego.  It  will  continue  its  existence  from 
the  moment  it  had  ceased,  and  takes  as  little  notice  of 
the  other  ego  as  a  man  in  the  waking  state  bothers 
about  the  dreams  of  the  previous  night,  of  which  he 
knows  nothing.  Both  states,  the  normal  and  the  ab- 
normal ego,  may  alternately  appear,  just  as  the  waking- 


262  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ego  and  the  dream-ego  may  come  and  go.  It  is  as  if  a 
dream-ego  of  a  sleep-walker  had  acquired  a  continuity 
of  its  own.  In  such  a  case  besides  the  normal  person- 
ality another  personality  is  formed  in  one  and  the  same 
body. 

Certain  activities  and  habits, — namely,  those  that 
are  usually  performed  unconsciously, — remain  common 
to  the  normal  and  abnormal  personality,  but  the  two 
egos  constitute  separate  spheres.  Physicians  who 
have  observed  and  described  such  states,  most  forcibly 
and  correctly  designate  this  phenomenon  as  cases 
of  "double  personality,"  and  we  explain  them  as  a 
doubling  of  "the  central  soul  within  one  common 
peripheral  soul." 

Ribot  quotes  the  following  remarkable  instance  * 
of  a  young  American  woman  from  the  "Philosophy  of 
Sleep,"  by  Macnish  : 

"  Her  memory  was  capacious  and  well  stored  with  a  copious 
stock  of  ideas.  Unexpectedly  and  without  any  forewarning,  she 
fell  into  a  profound  sleep,  which  continued  several  hours  beyond 
the  ordinary  term.  On  waking  she  was  discovered  to  have  lost 
every  trace  of  acquired  knowledge.  Her  memory  was  tabula  rasa; 
all  vestiges,  both  of  words  and  things,  were  obliterated  and  gone. 
It  was  found  necessary  for  her  to  learn  everything  again.  She 
even  acquired,  by  new  efforts,  the  art  of  spelling,  reading,  writing 
and  calculating,  and  gradually  became  acquainted  with  the  persons 
and  objects  around,  like  a  being  for  the  first  time  brought  into  the 
world.  In  these  exercises  she  evinced  considerable  proficiency. 

*  We  do  not  cite  here  the  famous  case  of  Dr.  Azam's  Felida  X .  The 

statement  of  the  case  does  not  appear  well  denned  and  seems  to  be  self-con- 
tradictory in  important  points.  It  seems  strange  that,  according  to  the  account, 
the  patient's  memory  in  the  abnormal  condition  covered  also  that  of  the 
normal,  while  the  reverse  did  not  take  place.  And  yet  Dr.  Azarn  states  that  a 
radical  change  of  character  took  place;  while  the  patient  appeared  modest  and 
decent  in  the  one,  she  was  coquettish  and  frivolous  in  the  other.  Such  a 
change  is  not  possible  without  the  obliteration  or  at  least  impairment  of  cor- 
tical brain  structures— which  after  all  arememories,  if  not  of  actual  experience 
yet  construction  and  education. 


DOUBLE  PERSONALITY.  263 

"  After  a  few  months  another  fit  of  somnolency  came  upon  her. 
On  rousing  from  it,  she  found  herself  restored  to  the  state  she  was 
in  before  the  first  paroxysm  ;  but  was  wholly  ignorant  of  every 
event  and  occurrence  that  had  befallen  her  afterward.  She  is  as 
unconscious  of  her  double  character  as  two  distinct  persons  of 
their  respective  natures.  For  example,  in  her  old  state  she  pos- 
sesses all  the  original  knowledge,  in  her  new  state  only  what  she 

acquired  since In  the  old  state  she  possesses  fine  powers 

of  penmanship,  while  in  the  new  she  writes  a  poor,  awkward  hand, 
having  had  neither  time  nor  means  to  become  an  expert." 

In  this  manner  there  are  formed  two  entirely  differ- 
ent and  independent  chains  of  recollections.  When 
the  one  appears,  the  other  disappears.  This  dupli- 
cation can  be  due  only  to  a  temporary  interruption  of 
consciousness  with  its  chain  of  memories,  thus  causing 
the  obliteration  of  the  conscious  personality.  Periph- 
eral soul-life  continuing  its  activity,  forms  a  new  con- 
centration and  produces  another  central  soul  which  in 
the  course  of  its  development  has  to  create  its  own 
material.  The  patient  thus  appears  to  lead  a  double 
life,  by  possessing  two  central  souls,  which  are  encom- 
passed by  one  and  the  same  peripheral  soul. 

How  much  the  cases  of  double  personality,  rising 
from  the  obliteration  of  normal  personality,  are  similar 
to  the  formation  of  a  dream-ego,  may  be  learned  from 
an  instance  quoted  by  M.  Ribot  in  his  "Diseases  of  Per- 
sonality,"  where  a  constant  change  of  personality  is 
effected.  He  says  : 

"An  insane  woman  of  Charenton,  possessing  very  remarkable 
power  and  originality  of  mind,  from  day  to  day  would  change  in 
personality,  in  condition,  in  life,  and  even  in  sex.  Now  she  would 
be  a  young  lady  of  blood  royal,  betrothed  to  an  emperor  ;  anon  a 
plebeian  woman  and  a  democrat  :  to-day  a  wife  and  in  the  family- 
way  ;  to-morrow  still  a  maid.  It  would  happen  also  that  she  would 
think  herself  a  man,  and  one  day  she  imagined  herself  to  be  a 
political  prisoner  of  importance,  and  composed  verses  upon  the 
subject." 


264  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

The  cases  of  double  personality  are  similar  to  the 
cases  of  a  double  soul,  in  so  far  as  both  show  two  or 
more  distinct  consciousnesses.  Yet,  while  the  case  of 
a  double  soul  may  exhibit  the  normal  symptoms  of  the 
peripheral  and  the  central  activities  of  the  soul  in  their 
isolation,  a  case  of  double  personality  shows  an  un- 
usual and  a  continuous  rise  of  a  second  central  soul 
with  a  new  and  distinct  chain  of  memories  rising 
from  the  subconscious  spheres  of  peripheral  activity. 
This  being  possible  only  if  the  normal  central  soul  is 
temporarily  extinct,  its  appearance  must  be  considered 
as  the  symptom  of  a  severe  and  most  probably  fatal 
disease  of  the  brain. 

The  phenomenon  of  double  personality  is  a  special 
and  an  abnormal  case  of  double  soul-life,  it  is  a  case 
in  which  by  the  weakness  of  central  soul-life  part  of 
the  peripheral  activities  usurp  the  centre  for  a  certain 
period.  It  is  like  a  change  of  party  in  the  government 
of  the  mind  ;  other  elements  representing  new  ideas 
and  principles  with  traditions  of  their  own,  assume  the 
executive  power.  The  symptoms  of  independent  per- 
ipheral activities  are  like  the  individual  exertions  of 
private  citizens.  A  duplication  of  personality  accord- 
ingly can  be  effected  only  by  ousting  the  original  per- 
sonality that  is  in  possession  of  the  central  executive 
powers  in  our  body,  represented  in  the  motor  regions 
of  the  hemispheres  and  controling  the  muscles  of  our 
limbs,  especially  the  organ  of  speech. 

The  inference  that  can  be  drawn  from  the  fact  of 
double  personality  seems  to  be,  that  the  peripheral 
soul-life  of  an  organism  has  the  intrinsic  tendency  to 
build  a  central  soul  out  of  its  own  materials.  Could  we 
amputate  the  central  soul  of  a  man,  /'.  <?.,  his  conscious 
personality,  the  subconscious  and  unconscious  activities 


DOUBLE  PERSONALITY.  265 

of  his  nerves  would  again  grow  together  or  at  least  show 
the  tendency  to  grow  together  and  become  focused  in 
a  new  centre.  Similarly  a  tree,  the  top  of  which  is 
cut  down,  will  send  forth  new  branches  to  replace  the 

loss. 

* 
*  * 

The  result  of  our  investigations  confirms  the  pro- 
position that  all  nervous  activity  is  in  a  certain  way 
psychical.  Even  its  so-called  unconscious  functions 
are  processes  accompanied  with  a  kind  of  feeling.  Ac- 
cordingly, they  are  (considered  by  themselves)  to  a 
certain  extent  conscious.  They  can  not  properly  be 
called  conscious,  because  by  "conscious"  we  mean 
the  strongest  and  most  concentrated  kind  of  feeling, 
and  not  mere  irritability.  Yet  the  irritability  of  or- 
ganized substance  is  the  germ  from  which  conscious- 
ness is  developed. 

If  the  work  performed  by  the  many  different  minor 
ganglions  of  the  peripheral  parts  is  called  unconscious, 
this  should  only  mean  that  the  feeling  remains  isolated 
in  the  peripheral  sphere,  and  that  it  is  not  known  to, 
i.  e.y  it  stands  in  no  connection  with,  the  larger  cen- 
tral ganglions.  The  activity  of  the  central  ganglions 
and  the  activity  of  such  parts  as  are  at  the  time  in  con- 
nection with  them,  are  the  constituent  elements  of  our 
consciousness. 

The  central  consciousness  being  stronger  than  the 
rest  eclipses  all  the  others.  So  the  stars  disappear  be- 
fore the  rays  of  the  sun,  although  they  continue  to  re- 
main in  their  places.  If  we  speak  of  our  ego,  or  of 
our  personality,  we  think  first  and  almost  exclusively 
of  that  part  of  our  mind  which  we  have  defined  as  our 
central  soul. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  different  parts  of  living 


266  2W£  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

substance  have  by  division  of  labor  lost  certain  prop- 
erties to  such  an  extent  that  they  scarcely  retain  the 
rudimentary  features  thereof.  Feeling  is  one  feature 
only  of  organized  life.  While  the  dim  feeling  of  irri- 
tability has  been  concentrated  in  a  central  conscious- 
ness ;  it  is  more  than  probable  that  in  certain  and  per- 
haps in  most  parts  of  the  peripheral  activity  of  the  soul 
it  has  simultaneously  been  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

In  our  great  cities  we  have  often  occasion  to  ob- 
serve in  the  evenings  pictures  of  magic  lanterns  used 
as  advertisements  in  the  streets  or  on  public  squares. 
We  may  often  be  puzzled  whence  the  picture  comes ; 
whether  the  lantern  stands  in  front  in  a  hidden  place 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  or  whether  it  stands 
behind  the  picture.  The  effect  only  appears  and  all 
the  many  rays  of  light  which  are  intercepted  by  the 
white  screen,  are  imperceptible.  No  wonder  that  the 
lantern  in  former  centuries  was  considered  as  a  magic 
instrument. 

The  Psyche  with  its  glowing,  its  brilliant,  and  ever 
changing  life  similarly  appears  as  a  wonder  that  can- 
not be  accounted  for.  Not  knowing  whence  it  came, 
we  are  almost  driven  to  the  conclusion,  that  here  is 
the  inscrutable  interference  of  an  extra-natural  power. 
Nevertheless,  patient  inquiry  will  after  all  convince  us, 
that  there  is  no  exception  to,  no  annihilation  of,  natural 
law.  The  same  natural  powers  are  at  work  in  our 
soul  as  in  the  surrounding  universe. 

Our  central  soul  appears  to  us  like  the  white  Alpine 
summit  when  seen  from  afar.  It  can  scarcely  be  dis- 
tinguished from  a  roseate  cirrus-cloud  that  hovers  free 
in  the  air.  Nevertheless,  the  Alpine  summit  rests  on 
solid  rock  and  stands  firmly  upon  the  ground  from 
which  it  has  risen.  We  see  only  the  snow-covered  top 


DOUBLE  PERSONALITY.  267 

and  are  not  aware  of  its  granite  base.  Yet  the  base  is 
there,  and  though  it  appears  dark  to  us,  it  consists,  in 
the  main,  of  the  same  material  as  its  top  in  its  majestic 
grandeur. 

Certainly,  nature  manifests  herself  in  our  soul  in  a 
peculiar  and  extraordinary  way.  Nature  seems  to  be 
concentrated  here  in  all  her  glory  and,  if  anywhere, 
here  she  demonstrates  that  she  is  no  chaotic  agglome- 
ration of  dead  matter,  but  a  living  power,  everywhere 
conforming  to  law. 

Law  is  not  imposed  upon  nature,  but  is  immanent 
in  nature.  It  is,  fundamentally,  nothing  but  the  fact 
that  nature  is  consistent ;  nature  remains  faithful  to  her- 
self. Thus  being  a  law  unto  herself  and  being  a  living 
power,  she  naturally  makes  life  grow  according  to  law 
/.  e.,  she  organizes  in  living  organisms.  Living  organ- 
isms therefore  can  truly  be  said  to  be  created  in  the 
image  of  the  living  cosmos.  They  are  microcosms 
and  can  be  looked  upon  as  revelations  of  the  macro- 
cosm, of  the  immeasurable  All. 

This  is  the  more  true,  the  higher  an  organism  is, 
and  most  of  all  it  is  true  of  man.  We  cannot  doubt 
that  there  is  a  scientific  truth  in  the  words  of  Moses, 
when  he  says  :  "  So  God  created  man  in  His  own 
image,  in  the  image  of  God  created  He  him." 


WHAT  IS  HYPNOriSM? 


IN  recent  times  a  number  of  quite  unexpected  dis- 
closures have  been  brought  to  light  by  the  aid  of  hyp- 
notism. The  wonderful  reports  about  hypnotic  ex- 
periments at  first  seemed  so  highly  incredible,  that, 
perhaps  justly,  they  were  received  with  distrust.  They 
seemed  to  merit  general  disbelief.  But,  the  experi- 
ments were  repeated  and  again  and  again  proved  suc- 
cessful. At  the  present  time  we  have  at  our  disposal 
an  abundance  of  well-accredited  facts.  England,  Ger- 
many, Switzerland,  Italy,  and  particularly  France, 
have  been  the  theatre  of  eager  researches.  Nor  has 
America  remained  altogether  unconcerned  in  the  mat- 
ter. In  recent  years  the  literature  relating  to  this  sub- 
ject has  reached  fabulous  proportions. 

The  more  conversant  we  have  become  with  hyp- 
notic phenomena,  which  at  first  appeared  quite  ab- 
normal, the  more  occasion  have  we  had  to  convince 
ourselves  that,  after  all,  they  are  not  more  wonderful 
than  other^  phenomena  of  life.  The  phenomena,  at 
all  events,  which  after  strict,  critical  investigation 
and  experimental  treatment  have  been  confirmed  and 
retained  as  facts,  are  easily  arranged  under  the  head 
of  biological  and  psychical  laws,  with  which  we  are 
familiar  in  our  daily  experience. 

At  the  very  threshold  of  the  new  science  we  are 
embarrassed  by  the  different  answers  which  are  given 


WHA  T  IS  HYP  NO  TISM  ?  269 

to  the  question,  "  What  is  hypnotism  ?"  I  have  sought 
in  vain  after  a  simple  and  precise  definition  among  the 
most  prominent  authors  of  the  department.  The  psy- 
chologists of  France  and  Switzerland  are  divided  into 
two  hostile  camps,  from  both  of  which  the  ingenious 
founder  of  scientific  hypnotism,  M.  Charcot.  seems  to 
keep  equally  aloof. 

M.  Charcot  considers  the  hypnotic  state  as  a  psy- 
chosis, i.  e.,  a  diseased  state  of  the  soul,  and  has  be- 
come more  and  more  convinced  (according  to  accounts 
that  have  appeared  in  French  and  German  journals) 
that  the  therapeutic  employment  of  hypnotism  leads 
to  injurious  results,  or,  to  say  the  least,  its  efficacy  is 
very  doubtful. 

The  two  hostile  schools,  one  at  Nancy,  the  other  at 
Paris,  unite  in  their  opposition  to  Charcot's  view,  that 
the  hypnotic  state  is  a  psychosis.  The  Nancy  school 
is  headed  by  Prof.  Bernheim,  the  Parisian  by  Dr.  Luys. 
Prof.  Bernheim  looks  upon  hypnotism  as  throughout 
psychical ;  he  resolves  all  its  facts  into  products  of 
suggestion;  while  Dr.  Luys  believes  to  have  produced 
physiological  and  even  extra-physiological  changes  in 
his  hypnotic  subjects.  Both  schools  devote  their  en- 
tire powers  to  establish  hypnotism  as  a  panacea  for  in- 
numerable ailments  that  visit  humanity.  Hence  their 
opposition  to  Charcot. 

The  question,  "What  is  Hypnotism  ?  "  is  answered 
by  Bernheim  as  follows : 

"  The  hypnotic  state  is  a  peculiar,  psychical  condition,  which 
can  be  provoked  artificially,  and  which  to  a  varying  degree  aug- 
ments suggestibility ;  i.  e.,  it  has  the  power  of  influencing  any 
single  idea  received  by  the  brain  in  such  a  manner  that  under  all 
circumstances  the  subject  strives  to  realize  the  same."* 

*  We  quote  this  definition  from  a  report  of  the  Psychological  Congress  of 
Paris  in  the  "  Internationale  Klinische  Rundschau"  Vienna,  August  25,  1889; 


270  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

He  adds  : 

"  All  the  different  processes  can   be  reduced  to  one  ;   viz.,  sug- 
gestion  There  are  hypnoses  without  sleep." 

Dr.  Forel  is  a  follower  of  the  school  of  Nancy. 
He  also  declares  that : 

"The  vague  conception  of  hypnotism  must  ultimately  be 
recognized  as  the  idea  of  suggestion." 

But  suggestibility  can  also  be  observed  in  persons 
that  are  not  hypnotic.  Have  the  masses  in  France 
been  hypnotized  perhaps  by  Boulanger,  because  by 
augmenting  their  suggestibility,  he  has  prompted  them 
to  all  kinds  of  whimsicalities  ?  Surely  not.  Sugges- 
tibility is  a  general  phenomenon  of  soul-life,  which  can 
be  observed  everywhere,  but  which  appears  in  a  spe- 
cial, and  indeed  in  a  morbid,  condition  in  the  hypnotic 
state. 

The  idea  of  suggestion,  it  seems  to  me,  is  much 
vaguer  than  that  of  hypnotism.  If  suggestion  were 
the  core  of  hypnotism,  if  it  were  its  characteristic 
feature,  every  teacher  who  imparts  knowledge,  and 
plants  ideas  in  the  minds  of  children,  would  be  a  hyp- 
notizer. 

Dr.  Luys  embraces  in  his  definition  all  the  details, 
that  he  actually  has,  or  believes  he  has,  observed  in 
the  hypnotic  subject.  Hence  his  definition  is  over- 
loaded, and  that  which  is  essential  is  not  carefully  dis- 
tinguished from  that  which  is  unessential.  That  which 
is  perfectly  accredited  is  introduced  together  with 
observations  of  doubtful  character.  Dr.  Luys  says  : 

"  Hypnotism  is  an  experimental  extra-physiological  state  of  the 
nervous  system.  It  is  an  artificial  neurosis  which  is  developed  in 
a  predisposed  subject,  a  pseudo-sleep  which  is  imposed,  and  dur- 

Dr.  Bernheim's  book  on  suggestions  not  containing  a  proper  definition — 
although  he  maintains  repeatedly  that  "hypnosis  must  be  reduced  to  its  real 
foundation,  which  is  suggestion." 


WHA  T  IS  HYP  NO  TISM  ?  271 

ing  which  the  subject  that  is  experimented  upon,  loses  the  notion  of 
his  own  existence  and  the  external  world." 

The  last  part  of  the  definition  applies  to  sleep  no 
less  than  to  hypnotism  ;  and  in  the  first  part  the  ex- 
pression "extra-physiological  state  of  the  nervous 
system"  appears  to  have  the  greatest  weight. 

This  is  not  the  place  for  subjecting  the  expression 
"extra-physiological"  to  analysis  and  criticism.  We 
cannot  adopt  an  expression  that  is  of  a  negative  kind. 
Instead  of  elucidating  it  perplexes,  and,  in  addition, 
we  cannot  admit  experiments  exhibiting  extra-physio- 
logical states  to  that  class  of  facts  which  have  been 
and  can  be  verified  by  repetition. 

Here  is  the  difference  between  the  Nancy  school 
and  the  Paris  school.  The  Paris  school  maintains  that 
the  phenomena  of  hypnotism  depend  upon  physiolog- 
ical changes ;  they  represent  extra-physiological  states : 
effects  are  produced  such  as  anaesthesia,  hyperassthe- 
sia,  contractures,  hemilateral  or  bilateral  transfers, 
rigidity  by  the  use  of  magnets,  or  by  the  touch  of 
medicines  contained  in  glass  tubes.  The  Nancy  school 
denies  all  these  propositions,  and  Dr.  Bernheim  de- 
clares, that  "all  the  pretended  physical  phenomena  of 
hypnosis  are  of  a  psychical  nature.  Catalepsy,  trans- 
fers, contractures  are  effects  of  suggestion  only." 

The  simplest  definition,  which  at  the  same  time 
completely  covers  the  matter  at  issue,  is  the  following : 
Hypnosis  is  sleep  produced  at  will  from  artificial 
fatigue.'  And  hypnotism  is  the  scientific  treat- 
ment and  investigation  of  hypnotic  states. 

* 

*  * 

In  many  respects  we  agree  with  both  the  Nancy 
and  the  Paris  school  ;  even  where  it  seems  that  they 
are  irreconcilable.  There  are,  no  doubt,  physiological 


272  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

changes  taking  place  in  the  nervous  system  in  natural 
sleep  as  well  as  in  artificial  sleep ;  but  at  the  same 
time  we  recognize  that  all  nervous  activity  is  psychical, 
although  it  may  not  be  in  connection  with  the  central 
soul  of  consciousness.  Yet  the  term  "  suggestion,"  in 
one  respect  too  wide,  is  in  other  respects  too  narrow, 
too  special.  It  does  not  cover  the  characteristic  feat- 
ures of  soul-life  in  the  state  of  dreams  and  of  sleep. 
Dr.  Bernheim  overlooks  this  difference.  In  the  pref- 
ace to  the  second  edition,  he  goes  so  far  as  to  identify 
sleep  and  suggestion.  He  says  :  "Sleep  itself  [mean- 
ing thereby  natural  sleep]  is  only  the  effect  of  sug- 
gestion." 

This  is  a  palpable  error. 

* 
*  * 

What  then  is  sleep  ? 

9  Sleep  is  a  reduction  or  total  obliteration  of  con- 
sciousness. Natural  sleep  regularly  follows  in  normal 
conditions  upon  fatigue.  A  person  becomes  tired  after 
having  exhausted  a  certain  part  of  the  potential  energy 
stored  up  in  his  body,  and  especially  his  brain.  Sleep, 
accordingly,  is  the  state  of  restoration  of  lost  energy 
during  an  apparent  inactivity  of  our  mind,  accompanied 
with  the  more  or  less  marked  disappearance  of  con- 
sciousness. 

We  can  artificially  produce  sleep  by  alcoholic  drinks 
or  by  different  kinds  of  drugs,  such  as  morphine  and 
opium.  This  is  called  narcosis.  The  narcotic  state, 
especially  if  produced  through  alcoholic  blood  poison- 
ing, seems  to  be  the  result  of  a  fatigue,  produced 
through  an  abnormal  combustion  that  takes  place  in 
the  brain  after  the  introduction  of  such  materials  as 
possess  a  strong  affinity  for  oxygen. 

The  extinction  of  consciousness  can  also  be  ac- 


WHA  T  IS  HYPNO TISM  ?  273 

complished  through  a  disturbance  of  the  conditions  of 
nervous  activity.  A  deprivation  of  oxygen,  or  an  in- 
hibition of  the  blood  circulation  at  once  renders  per- 
sons unconscious. 

Hypnosis  is  distinguished  from  normal  sleep  by 
being  provoked  artificially  and  at  the  discretion  of 
the  hypnotizer.  Further  it  differs  from  narcosis  so  far 
as  the  means  employed  are  not  of  a  material  but  of  a 
psychic  nature.  Thus,  terror  can  hypnotize.  As  ex- 
perience teaches,  men  and  animals  can  be  rendered 
motionless  through  fright.  Monotony  likewise  lulls 
asleep  those  who  allow  themselves  to  be  swayed  by 
its  impression  \  gentle  swinging  or  rocking,  the  aspect 
of  uniform  views,  prairies,  deserts,  large  corn-fields, 
and  continuous  sounds,  as  the  ceaseless  murmuring 
of  waves,  cause  sleep  in  persons  who  yield  to  their 
monotony.  In  the  same  manner  unexpected,  except- 
ionally violent  emotions  (sudden,  startling  sounds, 
glaring,  dazzling  light),  or  intense  concentration  upon 
a  single  idea  may  also  cause  unconsciousness. 

When  one  all-absorbing  idea  that  happens  to  be  of 
a  religious  nature  engrosses  consciousness,  the  state 
of  mind  is,  by  ascetics  and  penitents,  called  ecstasy. 

The  concentration  of  ecstasy  upon  a  single  idea  is 
akin  to  and  yet,  as  a  rule,  vastly  different  from  the 
concentration  of  attention:  as  can  be  observed  for  in- 
stance in  a  cfose  student.  The  former  is  monotony 
or  uniformity  in  general,  the  latter  "monotely,"*  or 
uniformity  of  aim.  The  former  is  an  enforced  inac- 
tivity, the  latter  an  exceedingly  strained  activity.  The 
worker  in  a  state  of  attention  considers  systematically 
one  and  the  same  object  in  all  its  different  relations, 
and  does  not  tire  in  his  absorption  in  the  matter  at 

*From  rf/lof,  end,  purpose,  aim. 


274  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

hand ;  the  ecstatic  penitent  absolutely  drops  all  rela- 
tions and  distinctions,  he  loses  himself  in  a  passive 
contemplation  or  intuition  enforcing  through  monoto- 
ny absolute  cessation  of  all  activity,  be  it  in  thought 
or  in  deed.  But  the  consequence  of  both  is  in  several 
points  similar.  Both  are  forgetful  of  all  other  things 
and  both  will  in  time  succumb  to  fatigue. 

Besides  these  means  of  producing  sleep,  the  Nancy 
school  added  that  of  suggestion.  People  are  made  to 
believe  that  they  will  fall  asleep,  and  lo  !  they  actually 
do  fall  asleep. 

There  is  much  truth  in  Prof.  Bernheim's  theory  of 
suggestion,  but  we  must  beware  of  its  one-sidedness. 
The  suggestion  of  sleep  will  undoubtedly  often  make 
people  sleep  if  it  produces  the  feeling  of  fatigue.  With- 
out producing  real  fatigue,  the  effect  of  suggestion  ap- 
pears to  me  very  doubtful. 

The  animal  and  the  human  soul  are  hierarchical 
organizations  of  living  substance.  Innumerable  or- 
ganisms, performing  physiological  and  psychical  func- 
tions, are  coordinated  and  super-ordinated,  so  as  to 
form  one  system  that  finds  its  centralization  in  the 
summit  of  the  hierarchy  which  we  call  the  central  soul. 

Living  substance  is,  as  we  know,  extremely  un- 
stable and  the  function  of  life  consists  of  two  processes 
which  are  closely  interwoven ;  the  one  is  building  up 
structures  containing  potential  energy,  the  other  breaks 
them  down  and  spends  their  energy.  The  former  is. 
the  alimentary  or  trophic,  the  latter  the  vital,  or  the 
active,  process  of  organized  life.  Fatigue  is  expend- 
iture of  energy,  involving  a  want  of  rest  for  restoration. 

Sleep  is  the  break-down  of  the  top  of  our  soul- or- 
ganism ;  it  is  a  temporary  abolition  of  the  central  soul. 
The  hypnotizer  causes  this  break-down,  either  by  the 


WHA  T  IS  HYPNO  TISM  ?  275 

shock  of  sudden  fatigue,  applied  to  the  very  centre  of 
consciousness  or  by  leveling  the  central  soul  by  cutting 
away  the  summit  of  the  psychic  hierarchy  through 
monotony.  He  fills  it  with  an  idea  or  sensation  so 
vast,  so  vague,  so  broad,  that  there  is  no  mark  of  dis- 
tinction for  a  centre,  there  is  no  occasion  for  a  rise 
of  the  soul's  activity  in  one  spot.  The  hierarchy  is 
destroyed  at  its  top,  the  central  soul  disappears  and  all 
psychic  life  is  dissolved  in  peripheral  activities. 


Hypnosis,  that  is,  sleep  induced  through  psychic 
agencies,  betrays  symptoms  similar  to  those  of  natural 
sleep  and  of  narcosis. 

Charcot  distinguishes  three  phases  of  hypnosis  : 

1.  Somnambulism; 

2.  Catalepsy ;  and 

3.  Lethargy. 

All  three  phases  of  hypnotism  display  striking  re- 
semblances to  corresponding  states  of  sleep.  Lethargy 
corresponds  to  the  deep,  dreamless  sleep,  while  som- 
nambulism represents  the  light  slumber  of  the  dream, 
in  which  the  normal  consciousness  is  obliterated  and 
makes  room  for  the  rise  of  a  dream-consciousness. 
Between  both  states  catalepsy  represents  an  inter- 
mediate condition. 

In  the  cataleptic  state  consciousness  has  become 
extinct  as  in  lethargy,  but  certain  functions  of  the 
nerves  remain  active.  The  limbs  are  pliant  and  plas- 
tic like  wax  ;  they  easily  assume  any  position  and  per- 
sist in  any  motion  imparted  to  them. 

The  acts  of  falling  asleep  and  of  awaking  take  place 
in  a  regular  succession  of  a  series  of  transitional  states, 
which  sometimes  may  be  passed  through  swiftly,  al- 


276 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


NORMAL 

Attention 
CONCENTRATION 


ABNORMAL 


Ecstasy 


OF  MIND 


Suggestibility 

SELF-CONSCIOUS- 
NESS 

Hallucinations 


WAKING  CON- 
SCIOUSNESS 

Somnambulic  State. 
PSYCHIC  ACTIVITY  * 
Cataleptic  State 

NERVOUS  RE- 
ACTIONS t 

Lethargic  State 

NERVOUS  ACTIVITY^ 

Hypolethargic 
State 

of  Death 


*  Here  insensibility  overcomes  the  subject.  "Psychic"  is  used  in  its 
usual  and  narrower  sense.  Psychic  denotes  that  which  is  feeling.  The  highest 
kind  of  psychic  activity  is  consciousness  and  self-consciousness  ;  the  lowest 
kind  of  feeling  that  we  can  reproduce  in  our  recollection  is  the  dim  shadow 
of  a  dream.  Any  feeling  that  we  suppose  to  exist  below  this  point  can  be 
called  "  psychic  "  only  if  the  word  is  used  in  its  broader  and  original  mean- 
ing of  "  pertaining  to  the  activity  of  the  soul."  The  feelings  manifested  be- 
neath this  point,  are  better  called  irritability  of  organized  substance. 

t  Here  torpor  sets  in ;  the  greatest  number  of  reflex  motions  cease  to 
respond  to  their  proper  stimuli ;  only  such  as  breathing  and  the  beating  of 
the  heart  continue. 

$  Here  not  only  the  beating  of  the  heart  and  breath  become  low,  but  the 
trophic  activity  of  the  nerves  appears  arrested.  Hence  danger  of  death. 


WHA  T  IS  HYP  NO  TISM  ?  277 

most  suddenly  indeed,  but  which  cannot  be  skipped  by 
leaps. 

The  state  of  consciousness  is  like  the  surface  of  the 
quicksilver  column  in  a  barometer  or  thermometer. 
May  it  ever  so  suddenly  fall  or  rise,  it  has  to  pass 
through  all  the  intermediate  degrees. 

Fatigue  causes  the  diminution  of  our  power  of  con- 
centration. We  no  longer  prohibit  the  rise  of  ideas 
that  distract  our  mind  and  so  we  commence  to  dream 
awake.  Our  muscles  cease  to  obey  and  our  head  sinks 
down,  we  commence  napping.  Light  slumber  with 
dreams  yields  to  deep  and  ever  deeper  sleep  until  all 
consciousness  vanishes.  Our  central  soul  has  appar- 
ently disappeared.  But  the  nervous  activity  of  the 
peripheral  spheres  has  not  yet  ceased  entirely.  Its 
psychical  manifestations  become  lower ;  but  the  more 
pronounced  the  sleeper's  inactivity  appears,  the  stronger 
seems  to  grow  the  trophic  or  nutritive  faculty  in  sleep. 
There  is  no  expenditure  of  energy  and  the  time  of  rest 
is  employed  in  building  up  the  broken-down  nerve 
structures,  and  in  restoring  the  energy  that  was  spent 
during  the  state  of  activity. 

Thus  the  natural  result  of  sleep  is  the  gradual  disap- 
pearance of  fatigue.  The  more  the  loss  of  expended 
energy  is  restored,  the  readier  will  a  sleeper  be  to 
awake.  By  and  by  some  of  his  memories  will  be  re- 
vived ;  he  will  dream  again,  and  at  last,  when  the 
greatest  part  or  all  of  the  broken-down  nerve-substance 
is  rebuilt,  the  faintest  noise  or  a  weak  ray  of  light 
will  be  liable  to  resuscitate  him  from  his  sleep  into 
full  consciousness. 

The  activity  of  the  soul  having  remained  for  a  cer- 
tain time  below  the  zero  of  consciousness  seems  to  be 
pressed  upward  again  through  the  restoration  of  its 


278  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

vitality  from  the  basic  periphery  to  the  higher  summit 
of  central  soul-life.  This  applies  to  normal  sleep  as 
well  as  to  the  hypnotic  and  even  to  narcotic  states. 

The  parallelism  between  hypnotic  and  natural  states 
can  be  explained  most  easily  and  quickly  by  the  an- 
nexed diagram  which  is  symbolically  arranged  as  a 
psychometer — an  indicator  of  the  stages  of  soul-life. 
The  scale  shows  the  order  of  the  phases  of  psychical 
activity  as  they  rise  from  and  above  one  another. 


LETHARGY,  CATALEPSY,  SOMNAMBULISM. 


THE  LETHARGIC  and  cataleptic  states  are  of  less  in- 
terest in  a  psychological  treatise  than  somnambulism. 
We  shall  only  mention,  that  in  lethargy,  along  with  the 
disappearance  of  sensibility,  there  can  be  produced 
a  peculiar  muscular  rigidity.  The  skin  can  be  com- 
pressed into  a  fold,  and  perforated  by  a  pin,  without 
causing  pain,  and  the  subject  may  become  stiff  as  a 
board.  The  cataleptic  state  is  characterized  by  a 
plasticity  combined  with  a  certain  rigidity.  The  sub- 
ject is  like  a  painter's  manikin.  He  remains  even  in 
the  most  awkward  positions  in  which  he  is  placed,  and 
continues  mechanically  to  perform-  motions  imparted 
to  his  limbs. 

The  difference  between  the  cataleptic  and  the  le- 
thargic state  is  one  of  degree,  not  of  kind. 

The  rigidity  of  the  limbs  seems  to  increase  with  the 
loss  of  sensibility.  In  the  lethargic  state  the  mus- 
cular contracture  is  more  than  double*  that  of  the 
normal  state.  Dr.  Luys  designates  this  as  a  transforma- 
tion of  nerve-forces  t,  as  if  the  nerve-energy,  which  is 

*  Dr.  Luys  says  :  "  In  a  series  of  experiments  practiced  upon  this  subject 
(Esther),  I  found  that  one  can  produce  a  deflexion  of  the  bent  forearm  in  the 
normal  state  with  a  weight  of  10  to  12  Kilogrammes.  In  the  state  of  lethargic 
contracture,  20  to  25  Kilogrammes  are  necessary,  and  on  this  point  the  muscle 
is  not  deflected,  but  the  whole  body  is  bent." 

f  "  On  est  amene  a  constater  qu'il  y  a  la  veritablement  un  phenomene  de 
transformation  des  forces  nerveuses  qui  se  manifeste  dans  des  etats  nouveaux. " 


280  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

distributed  according  to  the  economy  of  the  organism, 
as  a  rule,  in  an  equal  manner,  were  exclusively  utilized 
to  contract  the  muscles.  The  explanation  of  Luys  be- 
comes probable,  in  consideration  of  the  fact,  witnessed 
by  other  experimenters  also,  that,  the  deeper  the  sleep 
the  more  nerve-force  will  be  at  disposal.  Thus  sen- 
sibility may  increase  also.  For  instance,  in  the  optic 
nerves,  anaesthesia  or  insensibility  can  in  lethargy  be 
replaced  by  hyper-aesthesia,  /'.  <?. ,  an  unusual  and  ex- 
traordinary sensibility.  Dr.  Luys  calls  it  une  sorte  tie 
hyperesthesie  compensatrice. 

Persons,  who  are  left  to  themselves  in  a  lethargic 
state,  seem  to  awaken  spontaneously,  and  complain  of 
an  intense  sensation  of  cold.  Some  subjects  have  slept 
longer  than  twenty-four  hours,  and  it  may  be  as- 
sumed that  there  is  danger  in  the  experiment. 

The  state  of  ultra-lethargy  shows  symptoms  of  the 
most  ominous  kind.  A  total  exhaustion  prevails,  res- 
piration ceases,  and  the  pulse  becomes  extremely  low. 
All  nervous  activity,  even  the  nutritive  functions  of  re- 
generation, are  more  and  more  suspended. 

The  somnambulic  state  is  by  far  the  most  interest- 
ing, because  it  displays  psychical  peculiarities  that 
afford  abundant  parallels,  not  only  to  normal  dreams 
and  sleep-walking,  but  also  to  the  narcosis  of  intoxi- 
cation, and  to  insanity.  Accordingly,  the  theoretical 
psychologist,  not  less  than  the  practical  philosopher, 
the  moralist,  the  educator  and  the  physician  of  the 
insane,  will  here  find  the  clue  to  many  obscure  prob- 
lems of  soul-life,  and  at  the  same  time  valuable  hints 
that  can  be  turned  to  use  in  their  professions. 


THE  REALITY  OF  DREAMS. 


WE  constantly  observe  the  fact,  that  in  dreams  we 
see,  hear,  smell,  taste,  and  feel  as  if  we  had  to  deal 
with  substantial  objects.  Our  visions  are  as  real  to 
us  in  a  dream  as  the  things  we  perceive  in  the  waking 
state. 

How  does  this  happen? 

Physiology  teaches,  that  a  sensory  impression  upon 
the  skin  irritates  the  nerve.  Let  us  suppose,  that  a 
few  rays  of  light  have  fallen  through  the  cornea  upon 
the  retina.  The  irritation  is  thence  transferred  to  a 
ganglion,  and  from  the  ganglion  into  the  central  gang- 
lions of  visual  irritations,  viz.,  the  anterior  lobes  of 
the  Four  Hills,  or  corpora  quadragemina  (C.  (?.),  and 
in  the  optic  thalamus  (///)..  Here,  we  suppose,  is  the 
place  where  the  irritation  is  felt  as  a  visual  image  ;  we 
now  call  it  a  sensation. 

Accordingly  a  sensation  is  the  sensed  effect  of  some 
phenomenon  upon  a  sentient  being ;  it  is  an  image,  a 
sound,  a  touch,  a  smell,  or  a  taste  that  has  become 
conscious.  If  a  visual  sensation  is  called  an  image,  we 
must  bear  in  mind  that  it  is  not  a  passive  or  inactive 
imprint,  but  it  is  the  sum  of  all  the  movements  and  of 
their  memorial  residua,  made  by  the  organ  of  sight 
in  order  to  map  out  the  outline,  the  form,  and  other 
qualities  of  an  object. 


282 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


It  would  be  incorrect  to  say  that  the  elements  of  a 
sensation  are  motions  of  the  sensory  nerves,  for  be- 
sides the  motions  there  is  another  element  in  sensation 
which  we  call  feeling.  We  call  the  whole  process  sen- 
sation and  by  feeling  we  understand  that  passive  ele- 
ment which  accompanies  sensory  movement,  and  which 
is  known  by  experience  to  every  sentient  creature. 

EXPLANATION  OF  THE  DIAGRAM. 

Visual  impressions  received 
on  the  retina  travel  along  the  op- 
tic nerves  through  a  ganglion  to 
the  thalamus  (th)  as  well  as  to 
the  anterior  lobes  of  the  Four 
Hills  (the  corpora  quadragcjni- 
na)  (C.  Q.).  The  intermediate 
ganglion  is  called  "  the  external 
corpus geniculatum."  (It appears 
in  the  adjoined  diagram  as  the 
internal.  In  reality  the  external 
optic  ganglions  (corpora  genicu- 
lata  exteriora)  lie  outside  of  and 
almost  directly  above  the  inter- 
nal. If  they  had  been  thus  repre- 
sented, the  diagram  could  not 
with  any  distinctness  show  the 
connections  of  the  nerves.)  In 
the  anterior  lobes  of  the  Four 
Hills  or  in  the  thalamus,  perhaps 
in  both,  sensations  of  sight  must 
be  supposed  to  take  place.  De- 
tails as  to  the  latter  point  are 
not  yet  known.  That  part  of  the  thalamus,  in  which  the  fibres  from  the  ex- 
ternal optic  ganglion  immerge,  is  called  "pulvinar." 

The  posterior  lobes  and  the  internal  optic  ganglions,  which  are  connected 
with  them,  act,  according  to  Wundt,  as  motory  agents  of  the  organ  of  sight. 
Gudden  has  pointed  out  that  they  have  no  connection  with  sensory  functions. 
According  to  Wernicke  (Lehrbucli  der  Gehirn-Krankheiten  I,  p.  70,  et  seqq.), 
the  band  of  white  fibres  which  connects  the  Four  Hills  as  well  as  the  pulvinar 
of  the  thalamus  with  the  cortical  centre  of  vision  must  be  considered  as  a 
continuation  of  the  optic  nerves.  It  is  the  path  for  the  transmission  of  visual 
sensations  to  the  cortical  centre  of  vision,  v. 

x  indicates  the  sensory,  and.?  the  motory  centre  of  speech. 

Although  a  sensation  may  be  fully  accompanied  with 
consciousness,  it  is  without  value  to  us  so  long  as  it 
remains  an  isolated  sensation.  We  do  not  know  and 


DIAGRAM    SHOWING   THE    MECHANISM    OF 
VISION. 


THE  REALITY  OF  DREAMS.  283 

cannot  know  what  it  means.  It  is  without  significance. 
In  order  to  give  significance  to  a  sensation,  it  must 
become  a  perception. 

Sensations  are  dispatched  from  the  central  ganglions 
to  special  localities  of  the  brain.  The  visual  sensation 
goes  to  the  centre  of  vision  in  the  cortex  (?;).  Here  exist 
a  multitude  of  old  visual  memories,  that  have  been  re- 
gistered there.  The  sensation  that  just  arrived  travels 
on  the  path  of  least  resistance  to  the  place  where  the 
cerebral  cells  through  similar  impressions  are  predis- 
posed to  receive  it.  The  new  sensation  stimulates  the 
old  memories  of  a  similar  kind.  Its  form  fits  into  the 
forms  of  certain  old  memories  and  thus  it  revives  them, 
it  excites  them  into  new  life.  When  the  sensation  has 
been  received  among  the  memories  of  former  sensa- 
tions, and  when  it  is  felt  to  be  the  same  as  a  special 
kind  of  these  former  sensations,  we  call  it  a  perception. 

The  distinction  which  we  make  between  sensation 
and  perception  will  be  elucidated  by  an  experiment 
made  by  Prof.  Munk.  A  dog  whose  centre  of  vision 
was  extirpated  had  lost  all  visual  memories  of  the  past. 
He  had  not,  however,  lost  the  power  of  sight ;  his  vis- 
ual sensations  were  apparently  uninjured,  but  they  are 
new  to  him  as  though  all  his  former  experiences, 
gained  through  sight,  had  been  wiped  out. 

Prof.  Munk  says  : 

....  "  After  extirpating  the  cerebral  cortex  of  a  dog  on  both 
sides  at  the  place  A'  (Fig.  p.  285)  and  when,  on  the  third  or  fifth 
day  after  the  lesion,  the  inflammatory  reaction  is  past,  the  hearing, 
smell,  taste,  motion,  sensation,  etc.,  of  the  animal  do  not  present 
any  abnormity  whatever  ;  only  in  the  domain  of  the  visual  sense 
are  we  struck  by  a  peculiar  kind  of  perturbation.  The  dog  will 
move  about  freely  and  easily  whether  in  the  house  or  in  the  gar- 
den, without  ever  running  against  an  object,  and  if  we  heap  up 
obstacles  in  his  path,  he  will  regularly  avoid  them,  or  if  they  can- 


284  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

not  be  avoided,  he  skillfully  overcomes  them,  by  creeping  through, 
for  example,  beneath  a  foot-stool,  by  carefully  leaping  across  the 
foot  of  his  master^or  over  the  body  of  any  animal  obstructing  his 
way.  But  the  sight  of  human  beings,  which  formerly  he  used  to 
greet  with  joy,  now  leaves  him  indifferent,  and  likewise  indifferent 
the  sight  of  the  dogs  with  whom  he  was  wont  to  play.  The  rest- 
less and  rapid  movements  he  executes,  are  prompted  by  hunger 
and  thirst,  and  yet  howsoever  keenly  the  latter  are  felt,  he  no 
longer  as  of  old  hunts  about  the  corners  of  the  room,  where  he 
used  to  find  his  food,  and  if  we  place  a  plate  of  food  and  a  dish  of 
water  in  the  middle  of  his  path,  he  again  and  again  turns  away 
and  takes  no  notice  of  them.  Food,  when  held  up  before  his  eyes, 
leaves  him  unmoved;  so  long  he  does  not  smell  it.  A  finger  or  lighted 
match,  when  brought  near  to  his  eyes,  no  longer  causes  him  to  blink. 
The  sight  of  the  whip,  which  formerly  would  regularly  send  him 
into  a  corner,  does  not  frighten  him  in  the  least.  He  had  been 
trained  to  give  his  paw,  whenever  a  hand  was  moved  past  one  of 
his  eyes  ;  but  now  one  may  move  one's  hand  in  whatever  way  one 
will,  but  the  paw  does  not  stir  until  we  call  aloud  "  Paw  !  "  And 
there  are  many  more  observations  of  the  same  kind. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  as  regards  their  meaning.  By  the 
extirpation  of  a  part  of  the  brain,  the  dog  has  become  ' '  soul-blind, " 
seelenblind ;  that  is,  he  has  lost  the  old  visual  representations  he 
possessed, — the  memory-images  of  his  former  visual  perceptions,  so 
that  he  no  longer  knows  or  recognizes  what  he  sees.  Yet  the  dog 
sees,  the  visual  perceptions  reach  his  consciousness,  attain  the  state 
of  sensation,  and  cause  the  rise  of  representations  concerning  the 
existence,  form,  and  position  of  external  objects,  so  that  there  are 
acquired  anew  other  visual  representations  and  still  other  memory- 
images  of  the  visual  perceptions. 

One  might  maintain,  that,  as  regards  his  visual  sense,  our  act  of 
intrusion  has  transported  the  dog  back  to  the  condition  of  earliest 
youth,  to  the  condition  of  a  puppy,  whose  eyes  have  just  been 
opened.  As  the  puppy  must  learn  to  see,  that  is  learn  to  know 
what  he  sees,  so  also  our  dog  again  must  learn  to  see,  except  that 
its  ripe  capacity  of  motion,  the  advanced  development  of  the 
other  senses,  etc.,  may  shorten  the  time  of  his  apprenticeship.  And 
an  apprentice  he  appears  in  fact.  Our  restless,  goggle-eyed  dog,  with 
neck  stretched  forward,  and  moving  incessantly  to  and  fro,  when 
the  fever  is  past,  will  stare  at  every  object  around  him  cautiously 
testing  and  prying  into  every  nook  ;  and  thus  he  acts  both  in  lying 


THE  REALITY  OF  DREAMS. 


285 


BRAIN   OF   A   DOG,    ACCORDING    TO   MUNK. 


A,  Centre  of  vision. 

B,  Centre  of  hearing. 
C-f,  Sensory  Regions. 

C,  Hind  legs. 

D,  Fore  legs. 


E,  Head. 
G,  Ears. 

F,  Eye. 
//,  Neck. 
/,    Trunk. 


BRAIN    OF    A    MONKEY,    ACCORDING    TO    MUNK. 

Description  as  in  the  preceding  cut. 


286  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

down  and  in  moving,  the  latter  of  which  he  seems  to  prefer. 
And  first  of  all  he  will  have  set  himself  right  concerning  the  things 
that  are  most  important  to  his  existence.  We  need  to  duck  his 
head  only  once  or  twice  into  the  pail  till  his  nose  touches  the 
water,  and  thereafter,  when  thirsty,  he  will  always  find  the  pail 
of  his  own  accord.  The  same  is  true  of  the  plate  from  which 
he  feeds.  And  thereafter  by  slow  degrees  he  learns  to  know  human 
beings  and  surrounding  objects, — first  large,  later  smaller  objects. 
The  more  he  has  learned  anew  to  see,  the  less  his  unrest  becomes, 
and  the  more  moderate  his  curiosity.  Things,  concerning  which 
he  does  not  anew  gather  fresh  experiences,  remain  unknown  to 
him  :  He  remains  startled  by  the  sight  of  a  staircase  when  he  is 
confronted  for  the  first  time  by  such  an  object,  after  the  lapse  of 
weeks  just  as  after  the  lapse  of  a  few  days.  He  will  shun  the  whip 
after  a  few  days'  acquaintance,  or  only  after  weeks,  all  according 
as  sooner  or  later  he  has  felt  its  effects  upon  his  back.  If  nothing 
that  is  subject  to  experimental  test  has  been  withheld  from  his 
knowledge,  our  dog  in  some  three  or  five  weeks  after  the  operation 
mentioned  will  have  been  restored  in  the  region  of  the  visual 
senses,  and  can  no  longer  be  distinguished  from  other  healthy  ani- 
mals of  his  species." 

The  registration  of  many  perceptions  of  the  same 
or  a  similar  kind  cannot  be  better  explained  than  by 
a  comparison  to  composite  photographs,  although  the 
simile  must  not  be  regarded  as  a  sameness.  One  mem- 
ory is  laid  upon  the  other  as  one  photograph  covers 
the  other,  on  one  and  the  same  sensitive  plate.  The 
common  features  in  all  pictures  appear  stronger,  while 
the  particular  and  individual  traits  either  disappear 
from  weakness,  or  being  contradictory  to  one  another 
become  blurred  and  are  lost  sight  of. 

This  is  the  origin  of  generalizations  that  takes  place 
in  animal  brains.  All  perceptions  grow  together  into 
one  general  idea  and  if  we  speak  not  of  a  single,  but 
of  a  whole,  class  of  perceptions  of  the  same  kind,  we 
call  it  a  conception. 

Conceptions  attain  their  compactness  and  unity  by 


THE  REALITY  OF  DREAMS. 


287 


being  named.  The  whole  group  of  many  perceptions 
is  united  into  one  idea  by  being  comprehended  under 
a  common  word  symbol.  Thus  language  becomes  the 
mechanism  of  abstract  thought  and  the  speaking 
animal  will  be  a  rational  being. 


DIAGRAM    SHOWING   THE    CORTICAL    MECHANISM    OF    SPEECH    ACCORDING 
TO    WERNICKE. 

x,  Sensory  centre  of  speech  ;  ax,  Line  of  acoustic  transmissions  ; 

y,  Motory  centre  of  speech;  y  m,  Line    of    motor  impulses   to   the 

fs,  F.'ssure  of  Sylvius  ;  muscles  of  speech. 

We  add  that  x  is  associated  with  other  centres- of  the  cortex,  for  instance 
with  v,  the  centre  of  vision.  With  the  sound  of  the  word  dog,  all  the  visual 
memories  of  dogs  which  we  have  seen  are  awakened. 

Physiology  has  taught  us  that  our  perceptions  do 
not  take  place  in  our  sense-organs  but  in  the  hemi- 
spheres of  the  cortex  ;  they  are  the  combined  result  of 
the  present  state  of  conscious  sensations  and  of  old 
memories  with  which  they  can  be  associated.  This 
explains  easily  why  hallucinations  and  dreams  must 
naturally  appear  no  less  real  than  the  sensations  in  the 
normal  state  of  waking  consciousness. 

It  is  but  in  agreement  with  all  the  other  facts  of 
nervous  activity  that,  if  a  sensory  fibre  is  irritated  in 
sleep  (be  it  by  an  internal  or  an  external  cause),  and  if 
the  irritation  is  transmitted  to  its  cortical  centre,  it 


288  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

will  produce  there  a  re-awakening  of  former  memories 
in  the  same  way  as  a  sensation  does.  This  re-awaken- 
ing is  perceived  as  a  present  sensation,  and  not  being 
contradicted  by  the  testimony  of  any  of  the  senses,  it 
appears  as  real.  Indeed  it  is  (considered  as  a  per- 
cept) as  real  as  a  sensed  perception  can  be.  It  is  pro- 
duced by  the  same  organs  in  'the  very  same  place. 

We  have  been  taught  by  experience  to  find  the 
corresponding  objects  of  our  sense-percepts  outside  of 
ourselves.  Thus  they  are  projected  to  the  place  of 
their  supposed  origin.  Is  it  not  quite  as  natural  that 
dream-visions  should  be  treated  in  the  same  manner? 
They  are  projected  to  a  place  where  their  origin  under 
normal  circumstances  must  be  supposed  to  be. 

An  irritation  at  any  place  along  the  whole  line  of  a 
sensory  nerve-fibre  produces  a  sensation  which  is  im- 
agined to  take  place  at  the  origin  of  the  nerve.  To 
that  point  the  irritation  is  always  projected — even  if 
that  part  of  the  nerve  no  longer  exists.  If  a  special 
nerve  in  the  stump  of  a  limb  or  along  the  line  of  the 
nerve  up  to  its  cortical  centre  as  hurt,  the  pain  ap- 
pears as  real  and  at  the  same  time  is  as  distinctly  spe- 
cified or  localized  in  the  missing  limb  as  if  the  latter 
still  existed.  An  irritation  in  the  nerve  of  the  big  toe 
is  felt  in  the  big  toe  even  after  the  amputation  of  the 
whole  leg,  as  if  foot  and  toe  were  still  in  connection 
with  the  body.  In  fact,  the  pain  is  real  and  so  is  the 
vision  of  a  dream.  But  the  cause  of  the  pain  is  wrongly 
interpreted,  and  so  is  the  cause  of  a  vision. 

Let  us  suppose,  that  the  enemy  of  a  certain  country 
had  been  able  to  bribe  the  telegraph-operators,  and 
the  latter  had  sent  to  the  capital  a  spurious  dispatch 
about  some  great  victory.  Would  not  in  this  case  the 
report  of  the  victory,  the  joyous  celebration  and  meas- 


THE  REALITY  OF  DREAMS.  289 

ures  taken  in  consequence  thereof,  be  just  as  real  and 
positive,  as  if  the  victory  were  true  ?  When  the  sen- 
sory organs  in  their  totality  or  in  part  remain  inactive, 
and  the  central  organs  are  set  into  motion  through  in- 
ternal incitements,  the  result  will  be  precisely  the 
same  as  if  the  incitement  had  come  from  the  sense- 
organs. 

Every  recollection  that  a  man  has,  is  an  image  of 
former  sensory  impressions.  Certainly,  it  is  weak  in 
comparison  with  the  present  sensation,  it  is  faded  and 
dim.  Nevertheless  it  is  a  real  image.  And  when  the 
image  of  a  memory  is  revived  not  by  mere  association 
through  commissural  fibres,  but  through  the  same 
sensory  fibres,  which  in  the  waking  state  transmit  sen- 
sations, it  is  but  natural  that  the  image  will  appear  as 
vivid  and  as  present  as  a  real  object. 

Maury  has  sought  by  experiment  to  produce  dreams 
of  a  certain  kind.*  He  begged  a  friend  to  remain  be- 
side him  in  the  evening,  and  as  soon  as  he  fell  asleep  to 
excite  certain  sensations  in  him,  without  telling  what 
they  were  to  be,  and  to  wake  him  after  giving  him 
time  to  dream.  On  one  occasion  eau-de-cologne  was 
given  to  him  to  smell ;  he  dreamed  that  he  was  in  a 
perfumer's  shop,  then  the  idea  of  the  perfume  aroused 
that  of  the  East,  and  he  dreamed  that  he  was  in  Jean 
Farina's  shop  at  Cairo.  The  nape  of  his  neck  was  gently 
pinched,  and  he  dreamed  that  a  blister  was  applied  to 
it,  which  recalled  to  mind  the  physician  who  had  at- 
tended him  in  childhood.  When  a  hot  iron  was  brought 
near  his  face  he  dreamed  of  stokers.  When  he  was 
asleep  on  another  occasion,  a  person  present  ordered 
him  in  a  loud  voice  to  take  a  match,  and  he  dreamed 
that  of  his  own  accord  he  went  to  find  one. 

*  Maury,  Sommeil  et  Rfcves,  p.  127. 


290  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

It  appears  as  a  natural  consequence  of  this  view  that 
we  can  dream  such  things  only  as  we  have  experienced. 
Our  dreams  are  confined  to  the  materials  stored  up  in 
our  memory  ;  yet  this  material  can  be  so  rearranged,  it 
can  so  appear  in  new  combinations,  that  we  may  some- 
times be  astonished  at  the  originality  of  our  dreams. 

The  wealth  of  intellectual  life  also  depends  upon  the 
store  of  memories  hoarded  up  in  the  hemispheres.  The 
sensations  which  we  receive  at  present  and  which  be- 
come conscious  in  our  mind,  derive  all  their  signifi- 
cance from  their  associations  with  former  sensations. 

When  we  see  an  old  friend  of  ours  and  hear  his 
words,  it  is  not  the  present  sensation  alone  that  excites 
us.  His  appearance  and  the  timbre  of  his  voice  are 
recognized  as  identical  with  old  memories,  and  may 
thus  arouse  a  storm  of  awakening  recollections  in  all 
the  corners  of  our  brain.  How  many  memories  of  olden 
times  have  been,  as  it  were,  asleep  in  our  mind,  but 
in  a  moment,  when  by  some  association  they  are  con- 
nected with  the  present  state  of  consciousness,  they 
rise  like  spirits  from  the  depths  of  unconscious  exist- 
ence,— like  spirits  and  yet  in  such  a  vivid  manner 
that  the  past  seems  to  become  present  and  the  imagin- 
ary appears  as  real. 

Goethe  describes  the  awakening  of  old  memories 
most  beautifully  in  his  dedication  of  Faust.  In  his 
old  age  thinking  of  the  beloved  ones  of  his  youth, 
Goethe  says  : 

Again  ye  come,  ye  hovering  Forms  !  I  find  ye 
As  early  to  my  clouded  sight  ye  shone  1 

Shall  I  attempt  this  once  to  seize  and  bind  ye  ? 
Still  o'er  my  heart  is  that  illusion  thrown  ? 

Ye  crowd  more  near  !    Then  be  the  reign  assigned  ye, 

And  sway  me  from  your  misty  shadowy  zone  ! 
My  bosom  thrills,  with  youthful  passion  shaken, 
From  magic  airs  that  round  your  march  awaken. 


THE  REALITY  OF  DREAMS.  291 

Of  joyous  days  ye  bring  the  blissful  vision  ; 

The  dear,  familiar  phantoms  rise  again, 
And,  like  an  old  and  half-extinct  tradition, 

First  Love  returns,  with  Friendship  in  his  train. 
Renewed  is  Pain  :  With  mournful  repetition 

Life  tracks  his  devious  labyrinthine  chain, 
And  names  the  Good  whose  cheating  fortune  tore  them 
From  happy  hours,  and  left  me  to  deplore  them. 

The  present  surroundings  of  the  poet  disappear, 
while  the  memories  of  the  past  rise  in  his  mind  and 
become  reality  again.  Grethe  concludes  the  poem  with 
these  lines  : 

What  I  possess  I  see  far  distant  lying, 
And  what  I  lost,  grows  real  and  undying. 

These  stanzas  are  not  mere  figures  of  speech.  They 
depict  the  awakening  of  old  memories  as  they  rise  in 
the  mind  of  the  poet  gradually  filling  the  actual  present 
with  their  reality. 


DREAMS  AND  HALLUCINATIONS. 


IN  the  artificial  sleep  of  hypnosis  the  dream-images 
are  as  perfectly  real  as  in  natural  sleep,  and  in  post- 
hypnotic  suggestions  the  images  likewise  appear  equally 
real,  to  such  a  degree,  that  a  subject  is  very  seldom 
able  to  distinguish  them  from  reality.  It  seems  as  if 
even  a  fever-patient  could  more  easily  discern  between 
truth  and  delirium  than  the  hypnotic  subject. 

Concerning  the  reality  of  suggested  hallucinations 
Professor  Forel  says : 

I  have  frequently  made  the  following  experiment.  During 
the  hypnosis  I  told  Miss  L.,  that  on  awaking  she  would  find  two 
violets  in  her  lap,  both  of  them  natural  and  beautiful,  and  that  she 
would  give  me  the  prettier  flower  ;  but  I  laid  a  real  violet  on  her 
lap.  On  awaking  she  beheld  two  violets  ;  one  was  brighter,  more 
beautiful,  she  said,  and  therewith  she  gave  me  the  corner  of  her 
white  pocket-handkerchief,  but  kept  for  herself  the  real  violet.  I 
now  asked,  whether  she  believed  that  both  violets  were  real  or, 
whether  one  of  my  supposed  presents,  known  to  her  from  previous 
experience,  were  among  them.  She  said,  that  the  brighter  violet 
was  not  real,  because  on  the  pocket-handkerchief  it  looked  so 
flattened. 

In  this  case  the  subject  could  distinguish  to  some 
extent  the  hallucination  from  reality.  Forel  con- 
tinues : 

I  repeated  the  experiment  with  the  suggestion  of  three  real, 
equally  dark  violets,  not  at  all  flattened,  but  fragrant,  with  stem 
and  palpable  lea/es;  but  I  only  gave  her  one  genuine  violet. 

This  time  Miss  L was  completely  deceived,  and  was  utterly 

unable  to  tell  me,  whether  one  of  the  violets  or  two,  or  indeed  all 


DREAMS  AND  HALL  UCINA  TIONS.       293 

three,  were  real  or  suggested  ;  all  three,  as  she  thought,  were  this 
time  genuine  ;  at  the  same  time  she  grasped  with  one  hand  the  air, 
and  held  the  genuine  violet  in  the  other. 

Hence  we  learn,  that  when  we  suggest  sensations  for  all  the 
senses,  the  illusion  is  complete. 

For  example,  I  hand  to  another  hypnotized  lady  a  real  knife, 
and  tell  her,  that  there  are  three.  Though  fully  awake  she  is  ab- 
solutely unable  to  distinguish  the  supposed  three  knives  one  from 
another,  not  even  if  she  employs  them  for  cutting,  if  she  touches 
them,  or  drums  on  the  window-pane.  When  other  persons  later 
derided  her  on  the  score  of  her  illusion,  she  grew  angry,  and  firmly 
maintained,  that  there  had  been  three  knives,  that  I  only  later 
had  hidden  two  of  them  ;  she  had  seen  all  three  knives,  felt,  heard 
them,  and  would  not  yield  on  this  point." 

Bernheim  once  gave  to  a  patient  of  his  hospital  in 
an  hypnotic  state  the  following  suggestion  : 

"  In  six  days,  during  the  night  between  Thursday  and  Friday, 
you  will  see  the  nurse  come  to  your  bed  and  pour  cold  water  over 
your  feet."  On  the  following  Friday,  she  loudly  complained  that 
the  nurse  had  poured  cold  water  on  her  feet  during  the  night.  The 
nurse  was  called,  but  naturally  denied  it.  He  then  said  to  the 
patient  : — "  It  was  a  dream,  for  you  know  how  I  can  make  you 
dream  ;  the  nurse  has  done  nothing." — She  "emphatically  declared, 
that  it  was  no  dream  ;  for  she  had  clearly  seen  it,  felt  the  water, 
and  become  wet." 

Beaunis  relates  the  following  suggestion,  which 
may  at  the  same  time  serve  as  a  natural  explanation  of 
second  sight : 

"  On  the  afternoon  of  the  i4th  of  July,  1884,  I  hypnotized 
Miss  E.,  and  gave  her  the  following  suggestion  :  "  On  the  first  of 
January,  1885,  at  10  A.  M.,  you  will  see  me  ;  I  shall  come  to  wish 
you  a  Happy  New  Year;  after  that  is  done  I  shall  immediately  dis- 
appear."— I  did  not  mention  this  suggestion  to  anybody.  Miss  E. 
lives  in  Nancy.  I  was  myself  in  Paris  on  the  first  of  January,  1885. 
That  day,  Miss  E.  told  a  friend,  a  physician  and  several  other  per- 
sons, that  on  the  same  day,  at  10  A.  M.,  when  she  was  in  her 
room,  she  heard  somebody  knocking  at  the  door.  She  said  :  '  Come 
in  ! '  and  to  her  astonishment  saw  me  enter,  and  heard  me  with  a 


294  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

cheerful  voice  wish  her  a  Happy  New  Year.  I  immediately  went 
out  ;  she  at  once  hastened  to  the  window  to  see  me  leave  the  house, 
but  did  not  see  any  further  trace  of  me.  To  her  surprise,  she  also 
noticed  that  I,  at  that  season,  had  come  to  her  in  a  summer  dress. 
(The  same  clothes  that  I  wore  at  the  time  of  the  suggestion.)  Her 
attention  was  in  vain  called  to  the  fact  that  I  was  in  Paris  on  the 
first  of  January,  and  could  not  have  come  to  her  on  that  day. 
Nevertheless  she  maintained  that  she  had  seen  and  heard  me,  and 
she  is  still  convinced  of  that,  in  spite  of  my  declarations  that  it  was 
impossible." 

One  of  the  strangest  facts  as  to  the  reality  of  hallu- 
cinations is  the  observation  of  Messrs.  Fere  and  Binet, 
that  the  laws  of  optics  hold  good  for  suggested  images 
as  well  as  for  real  ones.  Thus  they  suggested  to  a 
hypnotized  subject  that  she  would  see  a  portrait  on  a 
table.  The  subject  when  awakened  saw  the  portrait, 
and  when  Dr.  Fer6  placed  a  prism  before  her  eye,  she 
was  greatly  astonished  to  see  the  portrait  double.  Dr. 
Fere  informs  us  that  the  subject  had  no  education  and 
could  not  possibly  have  any  idea  of  the  qualities  of  a 
prism.  Other  instruments  had  in  the  same  way  their 
natural  effect.  The  mirror  reflected  the  suggested  im- 
age, while  an  opera  glass  brought  it  nearer,  and  if  in- 
verted, projected  it  to  a  greater  distance.  Yet  upon 
close  examination,  it  was  found  that  the  magnified 
picture  only  showed  larger  proportions,  but  revealed 
no  finer  details  than  could  be  seen  with  the  naked  eye. 

There  is,  accordingly,  a  difference  between  dreams 
and  hallucinations.  Dreams  are,  as  a  rule,  products 
of  inward  incitements  solely.  Suggestions,  however, 
are  associated  with  certain  external  sensations.  If  the 
suggestion  is  given  that  a  subject  will  see  a  bird  on  her 
hand,  she  will  see,  before  a  mirror,  the  reflection  of  her 
hand  and  with  the  hand  also  the  bird  reflected.  What- 
ever change  the  object  suffers  with  which  the  sugges- 


DREAMS  AND  HALL  UCINA  TIONS.       295 

tion  is  associated,  the  same  will  be  observed  in  the 
suggestion. 

There  is  a  story  about  a  man  who  when  going  to 
bed  put  slippers  on  his  feet  and  armed  his  eyes  with 
spectacles,  because  he  used  to  dream  that  he  stepped 
into  glass-splinters  which  caused  him  much  pain.  He 
did  not  notice  the  glass  in  his  dreams,  because  of  his 
shortsightedness. 

We  are  not  informed  of  the  success  attending 
his  remedy,  but  if  the  frequent  occurrence  of  the  odd 
dreams  had  to  be  attributed  to  an  itching  in  his  soles, 
if,  as  we  suppose  it  did,  the  pain  existed  first  and  the 
dream  consisted  in  an  interpretation  of  the  pain,  the 
ingenuous  method  of  protecting  his  feet  with  slippers, 
it  is  most  probable,  was  of  no  avail. 

It  would  be  different  if  a  hypnotic  subject  had  been 
told  that  the  surface  of  the  lawn  was  strewn  with  glass. 
In  that  case  he  would  feel  innumerable  wounds  in  his 
feet,  if  he  walked  over  the  lawn  bare-footed,  but  he 
would  be  protected  against  the  paki  if  he  saw  that  a 
thick  leather  sole  remained  between  himself  and  the 
grass. 

The  reality  of  dreams,  which  subjectively  considered 
cannot  be  distinguished  from  the  reality  of  sensations, 
is  the  source  of  many  errors  in  philosophy,  as  well  as 
religion.  Schopenhauer  *  derives  from  this  fact  his 
idealism.  The  subjectivity  of  the  world,  (/.  e.,  the 
world  in  so  far  as  it  is  my  conception,  the  world  as  it 
appears  to  me)  is  mere  appearance  (Erscheinung)  ;  it 
"is  in  this  respect  akin  to  dream";  Schopenhauer 
says,  "it  belongs  to  the  same  class.  The  same  cere- 
bral function  which  in  sleep  produces  an  objective,  vis- 

*  Welt  als  Wille  und  Vorstellung,  Vol.  II,  p.  4. 


296  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ible,  and  palpable  world  must  be  no  less  active  in  the 
production  of  the  objective  world  in  the  waking  state." 

Schopenhauer  claims,  and  undoubtedly  he  is  right, 
that  there  is  a  remarkable  difference  between  dreams 
and  the  play  of  our  imagination.  Yet  it  is  a  difference 
of  degree  not  of  kind.  The  imagination  of  the  savage 
is  real  and  objective  like  the  images  of  dreams,  while 
the  imagination  of  the  philosopher  and  the  inventor 
is  more  abstract.  The  poet — at  least  the  modern  poet 
— may  often  stand  between  both.  Even  such  a  man 
as  Goethe,  critical  though  his  mind'was,  could  not  en- 
tirely free  himself  from  visions.  Yet  we  must  remember 
that  the  account  of  his  vision  is  reported  in  a  book 
which  he  entitled  Wahrheit  und — '  Dichtung. '  It  seems 
probable  that  memory-pictures  appear  real  only  when 
innervated  by  the  nerve  -  fibres  that  rise  from  the 
central  ganglions  of  the  brain.  These  nerve-fibres 
being  the  usual  channels  for  the  transmission  of  sen- 
sory impressions,  it  seems  natural  that  the  effect  of 
their  innervation  is  the  same  whatever  the  cause  of 
their  irritation  may  be.  The  commissural  fibres,  how- 
ever, that  serve  the  purpose  of  association,  cannot 
have  a  stronger  effect  in  dream  than  in  the  waking 
state.  The  innervation  by  commissural  fibres  awakens 
conceptions  and  images  only  in  such  a  way  as  they 
appear  in  our  imagination. 

The  savage  who  is  almost  incapable  of  abstract 
thought,  will  naturally  be  limited  to  an  imagination  of 
palpable  visions,  while  the  thinker  or  the  inventor, 
whose  brain  is  filled  with  commissural  fibres,  can 
better  dispense  with  the  dreams  of  the  waking  con- 
sciousness and  exercises  his  imagination  chiefly  in 
abstract  thought. 

The  life-like  corporeality  of  dreams  appears  natural 


DREAMS  AND  HALL  UCINA  TIONS.       297 

» 

when  we  consider  the  physiology  of  sensations  and  the 
kinship  that  obtains  between  sensations  and  dreams. 
There  is  no  evidence,  as  Schopenhauer  imagines,  for 
our  possessing  a  special  organ  of  dream  which  he  sup- 
poses to  have  its  seat  in  the  great  sympathetic  plexus  ; 
and  still  less  can  it  prove  that  the  soul  is  endowed 
with  the  power  of  producing  an  extended  world  out  of 
itself.  Schopenhauer  says,  "  As  the  stomach  and  the 
bowels  change  everything  which  they  digest  into  chyle, 
thus  the  brain  reacts  upon  all  irritations  by  produc- 
ing tridimensional  images,  subject  to  the  law  of  cau- 
sality." We  see  no  possibility  that  a  being  whose 
sensations  were  always  tridimensional,  should  have 
four-dimensional  visions  in  his  dreams. 

The  different  nerves,  it  is  true,  possess  special 
energies,  which  make  them  react  always  in  the  same 
way  as  sensations  of  light  in  the  optic  nerve,  or  as 
sensations  of  sound  in  the  auditory.  Yet  this  special 
energy  is  not  purely  subjective;  it  is  the  inherited 
product  of  objective  impression  upon  the  subject.  It 
is  an  acquisition  of  the  experiences  of  former  genera- 
tions. The  objective  reality  of  sound  waves  cannot  be 
doubted  merely  because  the  subjective  sensation  of 
sound  is  an  inherited  "special  energy  "  of  the  nerve 
apparatus  of  hearing.  If  it  were  indeed  merely  sub- 
jective, we  would  be  obliged  to  accept  the  conse- 
quences of  the  extremest  Idealism,  that  the  whole 
world  is  a  dream  and  that  there  is  no  difference  be- 
tween dream  and  reality. 

From  our  standpoint  dreams  find  their  natural  ex- 
planation; and  the  arguments  brought  forth  by  Ideal- 
ism fall  to  the  ground. 

In  concluding  this  chapter  we  call  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  life-like  reality  of  dreams  must  be  consid- 


298  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ered  as  the  origin  of  man's  belief. in  ghosts.     In  Homer 
we  find  the  following  passage  : 

-  "  Hush'd  by  the  murmurs  of  the  rolling  deep, 
Achilles  sinks  in  the  soft  arms  of  sleep. 
When  lo  !  the  shade,  before  his  closing  eyes, 
Of  sad  Patroclus  rose.     He  saw  him  rise 
In  the  same  robe  he  living  wore.     He  came 
In  stature,  voice,  and  pleasing  look  the  same. 
The  form  familiar  hover'd  o'er  his  head, 
"  And  sleeps  Achilles  (thus  the  phantom  said:) 
Sleeps  my  Achilles,  his  Patroclus  dead  ? 
Living,  I  seem'd  his  dearest,  tenderest  care, 
But  now  forgot,  I  wander  in  the  air, 
Let  my  pale  corse  the  rites  of  burial  know, 
And  give  me  entrance  in  the  realms  below." 

"And  is  it  thou?  (he  answers)  To  my  sight 
Once  more  return'st  thou  from  the  realms  of  night? 
O  more  than  brother !    Think  each  office  paid, 
Whate'er  can  rest  a  discontented  shade  ; 
But  grant  one  last  embrace,  unhappy  boy  ! 
Afford  at. least  that  melancholy  joy." 

He  said,  and  with  his  longing  armsessay'd 
In  vain  to  grasp  the  visionary  shade  ! 
Like  a  thin  smoke  he  sees  the  spirit  fly, 
And  hears  a  feeble,  lamentable  cry. 
Confused  he  wakes ;  amazement  breaks  the  bands 
.  Of  golden  sleep,  and  starting  from  the  sands, 
Pensive  he  muses  with  uplifted  hands  : 

"  'Tis  true,  'tis  certain  ;  man,  though  dead,  retains 
Part  of  himself  ;  the  immortal  mind  remains  ; 
The  form  subsists  without  the  body's  aid, 
Aerial  semblance,  and  an  empty  shade  ! 
This  night  my  friend,  so  late  in  battle  lost, 
Stood  at  my  side,  a  pensive,  plaintive  ghost  : 
Even  now  familiar,  as  in  life,  he  came  ; 
Alas  !  how  different  1  yet  how  like  the  same  !  " 

Dreams  were  considered  as  caused  by  the  hovering 
phantoms  of  the  departed  spirit.  This  we  know  is  an 
error.  Yet  let  us  not  forget,  that  there  is  a  truth  even 
in  this  superstition.  The  vision  of  our  dream  is  a 
reality,  although  there  is  no  ghost  standing  at  our 
bedside.  The  images  of  the  deceased  continue  to  live 
in  our  brains,  they  continue  to  influence  our  actions  and 
prove  themselves  in  many  cases  most  powerful  pres- 
ences. Shakespeare  depicts  in  several  of  his  dramas, 


DREAMS  AND  HALL  UCINA  TIONS.       299 

how  real  are  the  ghastly  shadows  of  innocent  victims 
in  the  imagination  of  the  murderer.  And  how  often 
is  the  memory  of  a  mother  a  veritable  blessing  to  her 
child,  better  and  more  valuable  than  the  inheritance 
of  wealth  and  worldly  goods. 


SUGGESTION-  AND  SUGGESTIBILITY. 


Two  means  can  be  employed  for  provoking  hallu- 
cinations in  a  hypnotized  subject ;  first,  the  panto- 
mimic attitude,  and  second,  the  verbal  suggestion. 
We  can  impart  to  the  subject  a  certain  position  that  is 
closely  associated  with  the  memories  of  the  state  of 
mind  to  be  provoked  :  a  clenched  fist,  for  example,  is 
associated  with  the  notion  of  anger.  But  it  is  much 
more  convenient  to  produce  hallucinations  through  the 
words  that  are  connected  with  this  or  that  mental 
state.  A  verbal  suggestion  attacks  at  its  very  centre 
the  idea  that  is  to  be  aroused.  Thus  the  alarm  of 
"Fire"  suddenly  raised  in  a  crowded  theatre,  will 
create  the  wildest  confusion,  and  the  most  dangerous 
excitement.  The  unexpected  but  impressive  and 
natural  shout  " a  mouse"  will  cause  terror  among  a 
company  of  ladies.  Some  will  at  once  jump  upon 
chairs,  before  the  truth  or  untruth  of  the  terrible  an- 
nouncement can  be  ascertained  ;  and  if,  perchance,  a 
slight  rustling  in  the  paper  basket  is  heard,  witnesses 
will  probably  come  forward  who  have  seen  a  mouse  in 
bodily  form,  and  who  in  perfect  good  faith  would 
maintain  upon  oath  the  truth  of  their  statement.  Such 
witnesses,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  have  seen  a  mouse, — 
the  real  image  of  a  mouse, — but  it  was  only  a  halluci- 
nation. 

The  suggestion  given  to  hypnotic  subjects,  works 


SUGGESTIBILITY.  301 

in  a  manner  that  is  not  much  different.  It  is  the 
awakening  into  a  vivid  reality  of  certain  images  in  their 
mind.  The  suggestion,  therefore,  is  upon  the  whole 
limited  to  the  material  found  in  the  brain  of  the  sub- 
ject, and  consists  mainly  in  combinations  of  extant 
ideas.  It  may,  accordingly,  be  perfectly  possible  to 
suggest  to  an  untutored  individual  the  conceit,  that 
he  or  she  is  a  great  mathematician;  but,  by  virtue  of 
this,  the  subject  will  by  no  means  really  become  such. 
To  make  this  possible,  one  should  indispensably  have 
to  suggest  to  him  all  the  single  propositions  and  les- 
sons that  are  laboriously  learned  at  school.  Sugges- 
tion can  only  occasionally  add  something  entirely  new 
and  even  then  it  is  a  mere  trifle  in  comparison  to  the 
memory-material  which  it  employs. 

A  most  remarkable  phenomenon  is  the  post-hyp- 
notic suggestion,  which,  like  an  alarm  clock,  is  set 
to  take  place  at  a  definitely  fixed  point  of  time.  The 
French  call  it  suggestion  a  echeance.  The  suggested 
idea  remains  unconscious,  and  at  the  time  determined 
spontaneously  appears  with  astonishing  accuracy. 

Dr.  Frederick  Bjornstrom  relates  the  following 
episode  of  an  experiment  performed  by  Drs.  Liegeois 
and  Liebault: 

Liegeois  has  succeeded  with  a  suggestion  of  one  year's  dura- 
tion. On  October  12,  1885,  he  hypnotized  in  Nancy  a  young  man, 
Paul  M.,  already  before  subjected  to  hypnotic  experiments.  At 
10. 10  A.  M.,  he  told  him  during  the  hypnosis  that  the  following 
would  happen  to  him  on  the  same  day  one  year  later.  "You  will 
go  to  Monsieur  Liebault  in  the  morning.  You  will  say,  that  your 
eyes  have  been  well  for  a  whole  year,  and  that  for  that  you  are 
indebted  to  him  and  to  M.  Liegeois.  You  will  express  your  grati- 
tude to  both,  and  you  will  ask  permission  to  embrace  both  of 
them,  which  they  will  gladly  allow  you  to  do.  After  that,  you 
will  see  a  dog  and  a  trained  monkey  enter  the  doctor's  room,  one 


302  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

carrying  the  other.  They  will  play  various  pranks  and  make 
grimaces,  and  it  will  greatly  amuse  you.  Five  minutes  later,  you 
will  behold  the  trainer  with  a  tame  bear.  This  man  will  be  re- 
joiced to  find  his  dog  and  his  monkey,  which  he  thought  he  had 
lost ;  in  order  to  please  the  company,  he  will  let  his  bear  dance 
also — an  American  grizzly  bear,  of  large  frame  but  very  gentle — 
and  you  will  not  be  afraid  of  him.  Just  as  the  man  is  about  to 
leave,  you  will  ask  M.  Liegeois  to  let  you  have  ten  centimes  to 
give  to  the  dog,  who  will  beg,  and  you  will  give  them  to  him 
yourself." 

Liegeois  and  Liebault,  at  whose  clinic  the  experiment  was 
made,  naturally  kept  the  suggestion  a  secret,  so  that  the  somnam- 
bulist might  not  get  any  knowledge  of  it. 

One  year  later — on  the  twelfth  of  October,  1 386— Liegeois  was 
at  Liebault's  before  9  A.  M.  At  9.39,  as  nobody  had  arrived,  the 
former  considered  the  experiment  a  failure  and  returned  to  his 
rooms.  But  at  ten  minutes  past  ten,  the  youth,  Paul,  who  had 
better  remembered  the  hour,  came  to  Liebault  and  thanked  him, 
but  also  asked  for  Liegeois.  The  latter  arrived  immediately,  called 
by  a  messenger.  Paul  arose,  rushed  to  meet  him,  and  thanked 
him  also.  In  the  presence  of  fifteen  or  twenty  reliable  witnesses, 
the  hallucinations  now  clearly  developed  themselves  in  Paul  as 
they  had  been  predicted  one  year  before.  Paul  saw  a  monkey  and 
a  dog  enter  ;  he  was  amused  by  their  antics  and  grimaces.  Then 
he  saw  the  dog  approach  him,  holding  a  box  in  his  mouth.  Paul 
borrowed  ten  centimes  from  Liegeois  and  made  a  gesture  as  if  to 
give  them  to  the  dog.  Then  the  trainer  came  and  took  away  the 
monkey  and  the  dog.  But  no  bear  appeared.  Nor  did  Paul  think 
of  embracing  any  one.  With  the  exception  of  these  two  details, 
the  suggestion  had  thus  been  fulfilled.  The  experiment  was  ended. 
Paul  complained  of  slight  nervous  weakness.  In  order  to  restore 
him,  L.  hypnotized  him  ;  but  took  the  opportunity  during  the  hyp- 
nosis, to  ask  for  information  about  what  had  just  happened. — 
"Why  did  you  just  now  see  that  monkey  and  that  dog  ? " — "  Be- 
cause you  gave  me  suggestion  of  it  on  the  twelfth  of  October, 
1885." — "Have  you  not  mistaken  the  hour  ?  I  thought  I  said  at 
9  A.  M." — "No,  it  is  you  who  remember  wrong.  You  did  not 
hypnotize  me  on  the  sofa  I  am  now  occupying,  but  on  the  one  op- 
posite. Then  you  let  me  follow  you  out  into  the  garden,  and 
asked  me  to  return  in  one  year  ;  just  then  it  was  ten  minutes  past 


SUGGESTIBILITY.  303 

ten,  and  it  was  at  that  hour  that  I  returned." — "  But  why  did  you 
not  see  any  bear,  and  why  did  you  not  embrace  Liebault  and 
me?" — "Because  you  told  me  that  only  once,  whereas  you  re- 
peated the  rest  twice." 

All  those  present  were  struck  with  the  precision  of  his  an- 
swers, and  Liegeois  had  to  acknowledge  that  Paul's  memory  was 
better  than  his  own.  Awakened  after  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,  Paul 
was  entirely  calm  and  had  no  remembrance  of  what  he  had  just 
said  during  the  hypnosis,  nor  did  he  remember  what  happened 
before  the  hypnosis  in  consequence  of  the  suggestion  of  October 
12,  1885. 

Post-hypnotic  suggestions  can  be  given  not  only 
so  as  to  produce  harmless  hallucinations,  but  also 
to  prompt  the  subject  to  the  execution  of  crimes. 
In  Dr.  Charcot's  clinic  a  patient  was  ordered  to  kill 
an  assistant  physician  and  a  slip  of  cardboard  was 
suggested  to  her  as  a  dagger.  The  woman  promptly 
obeyed  the  command  and  after  the  performance  of  the 
deed  gave  a  fictitious  reason  for  committing  the  crime, 
never  doubting  that  she  had  acted  on  her  own  account. 


Suggestibility  is  an  attitude  which  can  be  observed 
in  normal  soul-life,  not  only  now  and  then,  as  an  ex- 
ception but  as  an  everyday  occurrence.  It  is  man's  dis- 
position to  receive  and  accept  ideas.  The  best  ' '  drum- 
mer "  for  a  business-house  is  he  that  most  surrepti- 
tiously insinuates  to  his  customers  the  belief  that  they 
stand  in  need  of  his  goods.  The  best  teacher  is  he, 
that,  in  the  simplest  manner  possible,  imparts  to  his 
pupils  the  knowledge  which  he  possesses.  The  best 
preacher  or  orator  is  he  who  most  strongly  impresses 
His  moral  injunctions  upon  his  hearers.  In  short, 
suggestion  is  met  with  wherever  ideas  are  transplanted 
from  brain  to  brain. 

Suggestibility  in  its  highest  stage  of   normal  soul- 


304  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

life  is  called  docility.  It  constitutes  the  receptiveness 
of  the  soul,  the  faculty  of  receiving,  assimilating,  and 
appropriating  ideas.  When  this  receptivity  is  joined 
to  clear  consciousness,  the  new  ideas  will  not  be 
received  simply,  they  will  be  compared  with  the  old 
ones,  and  either  arranged  among  them  in  proper  order 
or  rejected  as  conflicting  ideas.  In  such  case  they  are 
relegated  to  the  lumber-room  of  the  brain  among  those 
concepts  which  we  class  as  absurdities  and  errors. 
But  when,  in  sleep  or  in  hypnosis,  the  activity  of  con- 
sciousness has  been  reduced,  and  when  the  memorial 
chain  of  past  experiences  has  been  broken,  receptivity 
also  is  lowered  to  an  indiscriminate  and  uncritical  re- 
ception of  anything  that  offers  itself;  thus  we  see,  that 
both  in  the  dreamer  and  in  the  hypnotized  subject  any 
absurdity  may  find  ready  entrance.  All  control,  all 
critique  is  lost,  when  a  comparison  with  old  experi- 
ences has  been  rendered  impossible. 

The  three  phases  of  hypnotism,  in  their  variety  and 
with  their  numerous  transitional  states,  can  be  char- 
acterized in  the  following  manner: 

The  suppression  of  consciousness  (/.  <?.,  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  central  soul)  is  common  to  all  three 
states.  In  the  hypnotic  state  we  encounter  an  auto- 
matic-mechanical working  of  intelligence.  If  we  say 
to  an  hypnotized  subject,  "you  have  murdered  a  man; 
look,  there  is  blood  still  clinging  to  your  hand,"  he 
proves  unable  to  coordinate  this  idea  with  other 
notions.  Therefore  he  accepts  it  without  criticism  as 
a  fact.  He  not  only  believes  the  suggestion,  but  he  even 
acts  accordingly.  He  washes  his  hands,  and  devises 
plans  with  logically  correct  arguments,  often  showing 
great  intelligence  in  the  effort  to  escape  the  consequen- 
ces of  his  imaginary  transgression.  With  individuals, 


SUGGESTIBILITY.  305 

in  whom  religious  feelings  and  ideas  are  strongly  de- 
veloped, there  is  evinced  a  readiness  to  take  upon  them- 
selves the  consequences,  and  to  expiate  the  deed  by 
submission  to  punishment.  But  in  every  case  the 
somnambulic  process  of  reflection  is  effected  with  the 
same  regularity  and  with  the  same  intelligence. as  if 
the  individual  were  in  full  possession  of  his  conscious- 
ness. Nay,  the  process  is  accomplished  more  swiftly, 
because  the  inhibition  which  in  various  ways  occurs 
through  the  presence  of  consciousness  falls  out  entirely. 
The  ideas  that  once  have  been  stimulated,  be  it  fear 
or  hope,  or  conceptions  liable  to  rouse  fear  or  hope, 
will  work  with  mechanical  exactness,  according  to  the 
dynamical  power  which  the  brain-structures  that  repre- 
sent these  ideas  in  the  subject,  possess. 

The  somnambulic  state  is  a  process  of  intelligent 
automatism;  it  is  a  phenomenon  of  mental  deliberation 
with  the  exclusion  of  a  centralized  consciousness. 

DIAGRAM  SHOWING  THE  MECHANISM  OF  SOMNAMBULISM. 

EXPLANATION. 

Centralized  consciousness,  which  manifests 
itself  in  conscious  sensation  as  well  as  conscious 
will,  is  excluded.  A  suggestion  is  given  by 
certain  sensory  impressions  (S  I)  which  produce 
an  /rritation  of  their  sensory  ganglion,  taking 
place  in  the  ascending  line,  i.  <?.,  the  .Sensory 
vVerve,  at  /  S  AT.  It  is  thence  transmitted  to  the 
memories  of  the  hemispheres.  There  it  takes 
effect  as  a  suggestion.  (Sugg.}  Not  being  pro-  ISNQ/  \QIMN 
perly  coordinated  with  other  ideas,  it  is  readily 
accepted  without  any  critique.  The  wary  guard- 
ian, consciousness,  being  asleep,  there  is  no  in- 
hibition to  check  the  progress  of  innervation.  SI( 
As  in  the  case  of  sleep-walking,  the  ideas  awakened  innervate  di- 
rectly and  unhesitatingly  the  motor  ganglions  (the  /nnervation 
taking  place  in  the  descending  line,  representing  the  Motory  ./Verve, 
at  / M  N),  which  at  once  produce  muscular  motion  (MM). 


306 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


EXPLANATION  OF  THE  DIAGRAM. 


NORMAL 


ABNORMAL 


Attention 

CONCENTRATION 

Docility 

THE  HEIGHT  OF 

Wake-Dream- 
ing 

Visions 
MINIMUM  OF 

Dreams 
Sleep-walking 

MINIMUM  OF 
Dreamless  Sleep 

MINIMUM  OF 
Profound  Sleep 


Ecstasy 


OFjMlND 


Suggestibility 

SELF  CONSCIOUS- 
NESS 

Hallucinations 

WAKING  CON- 
SCIOUSNESS 


PSYCHIC  ACTIVITY 
Cataleptic  State 

NERVOUS  RE- 
ACTIONS 

Lethargic  State 


In  the  highest  state  of  con- 
sciousness, attention  is  concen- 
trated upon  one  object  or  idea ; 
all  thought  that  is  not  subser- 
vient to,  or  may  interfere  with 
this  purpose,  is  checked.  In 
the  corresponding  abnormal 
state  this  concentration  is  so 
absolute  that  it  produces  a  kind 
of  intellectual  trance,  called 
"ecstasy."  Ecstasy  is  a  fixed- 
ness or  torpor  of  consciousness, 
which, as  we  learned  in  a  former 
discussion  on  the  subject,  will 

Somnambulic  State  lead  to  a  real  trance,— it  will 
hypnotize. 

A  very  high  state  of  conscious- 
ness, which  however  need  not 
be  so  high  as  that  of  attention, 
is  the  attitude  of  mind  called 
"docility  "  in  which  sensations 
or  ideas    are    perceived    and 
correctly  recognized.     It  is  a 
NERVOUS  ACTIVITY  state  of  receptivity.   In  the  cor- 
Hypolethargic  responding  abnormal  state,  the 

State  ideas    received    are  not   com- 

of  Death  pared  with    the  memories    of 

former  experiences  ;  they  are 
accepted  in  good  faith  without 
discrimination. 

The  senses  of  a  man  in  a  state 
of  fatigue  become  gradually 
dulled,  They  cease  to  perform 
their  work  with  accuracy.  At 
the  same  time  thoughts  become 
visionary  ;  they  turn  up  promis- 
cuously, often  without  any  logical  connection,  but  following  a  very  loose  asso- 
ciation which  gives  to  their  appearance  the  shape  of  fortuitous  incidents. 
Single  ideas  or  memory-images  may  still  remain  awake.  They  can  under 
circumstances  afterwards  be  remembered  as  dreams.  In  profound  sleep  all 
thoughts  and  dreams  cease,  while  through  the  increase  of  the  trophic  [nutri- 
tive] functions  in  the  nervous  substance,  the  expenditure  of  energy  is  restored 
and  anew  rise  of  consciousness  is  prepared. 

In  the  cataleptic  state,  besides  consciousness,  the 
activity  of  intelligent  mentality  is  also  suppressed. 
The  nerve-process  is,  in  this  case,  limited  to  simple  re- 
flex-motions. Man  becomes  a  living  muscular  manikin, 


SUG  GES  TIBIL  fTY.  307 

which  submits  to  being  placed,  at  the  hypnotizer's  dis- 
cretion, in  any  position. 

In  the  lethargic  state  a  great  part  of  the  mechanism 
of  the  nervous  reflex-motions  is,  in  addition,  rendered 
inactive;  the  reflex  centres  of  breathing,  the  beating  of 
the  heart,  and  the  trophic  functions  alone  remain  at 
work.  In  a  hypo-lethargic  state  even  these  last  signs 
of  nervous  vitality  become  low  and  the  similarity  of 
the  state  to  swoons  and  trances  warns  the  experi- 
menter of  the  danger  to  which  the  subject  here  is  ex- 
posed— a  danger  which  naturally  forbids  further  ex- 
periments. 


THE  CO-ORDINATION  OF  MENTAL  ACTIVITY. 


WE  may  compare  the  hemispheres  of  the  brain  to  a 
globe  upon  the  walls  of  which  all  the  many  memories 
of  former  experiences  are  inscribed.  There  are  images 
of  concrete  objects  and  symbols  of  abstract  thoughts, 
but  all  of  them  are  alive;  and  every  one  of  them  is  di- 
rectly or  indirectly  in  a  two-fold  telegraphic  connection 
with  the  outside  world:  every  one  of  them  receives  and 
sends  out  dispatches ;  there  are  afferent  and  efferent 
nerve-fibers.  The  globe  is  irregularly  illuminated, 
and  often  quite  dark;  for  the  living  memories  may  per- 
form their  work  unconsciously ;  every  one  of  them  is 
living  and  feeling  ;  but  the  feeling  remains  compara- 
tively low,  so  long  as  it  is  isolated.  It  is  in  such 
case  not  communicated  to  the  central  soul.  In  order 
to  be  conscious,  it  must  be  centralized,  it  must  be  con- 
nected with  the  organ  of  concentration  which  co- 
ordinates all  ideas  and  thus  locates  the  one  that  at 
the  moment  comes  to  the  front. 

A  special  idea  (a  sensation,  or  the  memory  of  a 
sensation,  or  an  abstract  thought)  being  for  a  moment 
centralized  among  all  the  other  ideas  of  a  brain,  attains 
a  prominence  and  a  strength  in  feeling  which  is  called 
consciousness.  Consciousness  is  nothing  but  exalted 
feeling ;  it  is,  so  to  say,  condensed  and  centralized 
feeling.  In  its  highest  state  which  it  attains  through 
coordination  we  may  call  it  self-consciousness. 


MENTAL   CO-ORDINATION.  309 

The  idea  that  at  the  time  flashes  up  in  con- 
sciousness may  be  compared  to  the  centre  of  vision. 
The  object  which  we  look  at  is  clear  and  distinct ;  yet 
it  is  not  the  only  image  present  in  the  field  of  vision. 
The  other  objects  grow  more  and  more  indistinct  the 
farther  they  are  from  the  centre  and  many  things  will 
remain  unnoticed,  although  they  are  pictured  upon 
the  retina  of  the  eye.  Similarly  the  ideas  in  our 
mind  that  are  grouped  around  the  present  centre  of 
consciousness  grow  dimmer  and  dimmer  and  disap- 
pear at  last  in  the  gloomy  twilight  of  unconscious 
vagueness.  The  intermediate  states  we  call  subcon- 
scious. Yet  even  those  nervous  structures  which  at 
the  time  are  unconscious,  must  not  be  considered  as 
utterly  void  of  feeling.  So  long  as  they  are  alive  they 
can  in  an  instant  be  centralized,  and  thus  come  to  the 
front  in  consciousness. 

The  mechanism  of  concentration,  it  seems,  is 
located  in  a  special  organ.  The  operation  of  this 
mechanism  may  be  compared  to  ,an  electric  battery 
which  provides  the  interior  of  the  globe  with  light. 

Then  the  process  of  conscious  thought  would  be  like 
the  illumination  now  of  this  and  now  of  that  spot  in  the 
structures  of  the  hemispheres.  That  spot  which  at  a 
given  moment  receives  the  full  effect  of  the  incandes- 
cence forms,  as  it  were,  a  centre  of  brightness.  But 
the  vicinity  about  it  also  appears  luminous,  indeed  the 
whole  globe  is,  although  dimly  in  its  distant  parts,  lit 
from  that  one  spot ;  and  the  subumbra  increases  with 
the  distance  from  the  centre.  Yet  it  may  be  that  here 
and  there,  where  direct  associations  obtain,  spots  that 
are  relatively  brighter,  will  appear  amid  the  dusk  of 
the  remoter  regions.  It  is  not  always  the  same  spot 
which  forms  the  centre  of  brightness.  The  centre  is 


310  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

changing  and  may  rapidly  change.  As  a  rule  it  is  all 
but  impossible  for  it  to  remain  the  same  for  any  length 
of  time,  because  the  energy  of  that  one  idea  would 
soon  be  exhausted.  Every  concentration  upon  one 
idea  is  tiresome,  and  we  know  that  concentration  is 
one  of  the  means  employed  by  hypnotizers  to  produce 
artificially  that  state  of  sleep  which  is  called  hypnosis. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  function,  which 
we  have  compared  to  the  operation  of  an  electric  bat- 
tery, is  performed  by  a  special  organ  of  the  brain.  All 
the  facts  hitherto  ascertained  by  observation  and  ex- 
periment seem  to  establish  the  theory  that  the  large 
ganglions  of  the  nervous  system,  the  Cerebellum,  the 
Thalamus,  and  Corpus  Striatum,  are,  each  in  its  way, 
organs  of  coordination.  The  Corpus  Striatum  we 
suppose  to  be  the  organ  of  coordination  for  the  hemi- 
spheres. It  is  a  ganglion,  the  structure  of  which  is 
analogous  to  the  structure  of  the  hemispheres,  not  only 
in  so  far  as  it  has  grown  out  from  the  walls  of  the  hemi- 
spheres but  also  because  its  gray  substance  (especially 
in  the  put 'amen}  forms  a  terminus  similar  to  the  cerebral 
cells  in  the  cortex,  with  which  latter,  furthermore,  it 
is  in  various  directions,  intimately  connected. 

Some  psychologists  suppose  that  in  the  somnam- 
bulic  state  the  hemispheres  are  completely  asleep.  Yet 
this  is  apparently  inconsistent  with  the  theory  that 
somnambulism  is  an  intelligent  automatism — unless 
we  give  up  all  our  present  notions  about  the  opera- 
tions of  the  hemispheres  as  the  organ  of  intelligence. 
It  is  true  that  some  physiologists  consider  the  hemis- 
pheres as  the  seat  of  consciousness,  and  thus  it  seems 
that,  if  consciousness  is  asleep,  the  hemispheres  should 
remain  inactive.  But  the  experiments  of  somnabulism, 
no  less  than  other  and  kindred  facts  of  unconscious 


MENTAL   CO-ORDINATION. 


Diagram  showing  the  growth  of  the  Striped  Body  (corpus 
striatuni)  from  the  hemispheres.  The  drawing  represents  a  human 
brain  in  a  foetus  of  two  and  a  half  months,  according  to  Dr.  Ludwig 
Edinger.* 

soul-life,  prove  that  acts  of  automatic  intelligence  are 
possible,  and  thus  point  to  another  solution.  The 
piano  virtuoso  has  the  complex  motions  of  his  fingers 
not  in  his  hand  alone,  but  in  his  brain,  in  the  store- 
house of  his  memories.  If  he  executes  these  move- 
ments unconsciously,  the  hemispheres  of  his  brain  do 

*Zwolf  Vorlesungen  ilber  den  Bau  der  nervosen  Centralorgane.     By  Dr 
Ludwig  Edinger.     Leipzig  :  F.  C.  Vogel. 


312 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


A  VERTICAL  SECTION  OF  THE  HU^AN  BRAIN  : 
Showing  the  situation  and  shape  of  the  Striped  Body  in  a  full- 
grown  individual.  It  consists  of  two  parts,  the  caudate  body* 
(nucleus  caudatus]  and  the  lentiform  body  (nucleus  lentiformis), 
divided  by  the  internal  capsule  (capsula  internet}.  The  lentiform 
body  consists  of  three,  sometimes  of  four,  stripes,  the  outermost 
one  of  which  is  called  the  shell  (put amen}. 

not  remain  inactive.  Yet  the  activity  of  the  hemis- 
pheric structures  is  not  always  connected  with  the 
consciousness  of  the  central  soul.  After  a  longer  pro- 
cess of  conscious  exercise,  they  have  become  suffi- 
ciently fixed  as  to  work  automatically.  Automatic 
means  "self-moving,"  "self-acting,"  or  "indepen- 

*The  caudate  body  has  the  appearance  of  a  large  comma,  the  biggest 
part  of  which  lies  in  front,  with  the  tail  turned  backwards.  The  lentiform 
body,  in  that  part  which  lies  opposite  the  claustrum  appears  as  a  lense. 


MENTAL   CO-ORDINATION.  313 

dent."  Acts  of  automatic  intelligence  are  such  as 
are  performed  independently  of  the  centralization  of 
consciousness. 

Unconscious  cerebration  can  no  longer  be  consid- 
ered as  extraordinary.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  a  distinct- 
ively normal  feature  of  soul-life.  All  cerebration,  it  ap- 
pears, remains  unconscious,  so  long  as  it  is  not  con- 
centrated and  properly  coordinated,  so  long  as  it 
remains  unconnected  with  the  centre  of  soul-life. 


THE  SUGGESTIBILITY  OF  CROWDS. 


THE  intelligence  of  an  aggregate  of  people  repre- 
sents by  no  means  the  sum  of  their  intellectual  ability, 
but  only  their  average  capacity ;  and  if  we  could  get 
the  exact  measure  of  the  understanding  of  crowds,  we 
would  find  that  in  most  cases,  it  does  not  even  reach 
the  average.  One  reason  for  this  deficit  in  the  intel- 
ligence of  masses  of  people  will  be  found  in  the  fact 
that  nobody,  if  seriously  taken  to  task,  cares  to  identify 
himself  with  the  whole  crowd.  Thus  many  help  to  give 
expression  to  an  opinion  for  which  they  do  not  feel  a 
personal  responsibility. 

Great  masses  of  people  are  for  several  reasons  ex- 
tremely suggestible.  First,  great  masses  are  likely  to 
be  composed  of  many  men  below  the  average  of  educa- 
tion, and  people  who  are  in  possession  of  little  knowl- 
edge are  easily  influenced  by  any  opinion  that  is 
offered  with  great  self-assertion.  A  lack  of  knowledge 
is  always  accompanied  with  a  lack  of  critical  power. 
Thus,  secondly,  great  masses  are  not  likely  to  show 
much  opposition  to  new  ideas,  unless  a  new  idea  directly 
and  unequivocally  threatens  some  one  of  their  firmly 
established  prejudices.  Thirdly,  even  where  great 
masses  consist  of  learned  men,  of  professors,  doctors, 
or  other  people  who  are  generally  accustomed  to  think 
independently,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  majority  is  thor- 
oughly familiar  with  that  line  of  thought  in  which  the 


SUGGESTIBILITY  OF  CROWDS.         315 

speaker's  argument  moves.  They  may  have  been 
partly  indifferent  to  the  subject  before  he  commences 
to  speak  ;  or  if  they  chanced  to  be  interested  in  the  sub- 
ject, they  had  not  as  yet  formed  an  opinion  of  their 
own.  An  opinion  is  nowpresented  to  them  ready  made, 
and  the  simplest  thing  in  the  world  is  to  accept  that 
opinion  just  as  it  is  offered. 

Schiller  in  one  of  his  Xenions  expresses  a  similar 
idea ;  he  says  of  some  board  of  trustworthy  men  : 

"  Every  one  of  them,  singly  considered,  is  sensible,  doubtless, 
But  in  a  body  they  all  act  and  behave  like  an  ass." 

Large  bodies  are  always  more  likely  to  make  mis- 
takes than  single  individuals.  Many  cooks  spoil  the 
broth ;  not  only  because  there  are  too  many  opinions, 
but  also  because  if  they  form  one  mass,  all  their 
knowledge  together  does  not  make  up  the  sum  but  the 
mere  average  of  their  wisdom. 

As  a  means  of  bringing  the  combined  intelligence 
of  a  number  of  persons  to  bear  on  a  special  point, 
rules  of  discussion  have  been  invented  which  make 
it  possible  for  every  opinion  to  be  heard  before  the 
association  as  a  whole  decides  upon  the  acceptance  of 
a  special  idea  or  plan  of  action.  And  this  is  the  only 
way  any  meeting  can  be  conducted  in  which  the  crit- 
ical power  of  the  individual  members  is  not  to  be 
suppressed,  but  the  minds  of  all  are  allowed  to  co- 
operate. 

There  is  a  special  art  of  suggesting  ideas  to  large 
masses  and  we  call  it  oratory.  The  art  is  very  valu- 
able ;  and  most  valuable  is  it  in  a  republic.  It  can  be 
used  for  good  and  for  evil  purposes.  An  orator  may 
suggest  base  ideas  perhaps,  with  the  same  cleverness 
as  noble  aspirations. 

We  shall  explain  the  different  methods  employed, 


316  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

for  two  reasons :  first,  to  shed  light  upon  the  art  of 
oratory  as  a  method  of  suggestion  for  its  practical  use 
in  serving  honest  and  legitimate  purposes  ;  and,  sec- 
ondly, to  guard  against  the  tricks  of  impostors,  who 
know  how  to  gain  the  ears  of  an  audience  and  lead 
their  hearers  astray. 

A  suggester  of  ideas,  i.  e.,  an  orator  (be  he  teacher, 
attorney  at  law,  preacher,  or  drummer — the  latter  has 
generally  to  be  an  orator  to  two  ears  only)  must  always 
speak  in  the  language  of  his  audience ;  viz.,  his  pupils, 
his  clients  or  the  jury,  his  congregation,  his  customer. 
He  has — to  use  the  expression  of  Experimental  Psy- 
chology— to  adapt  himself  to  his  "subject."  It  is 
useless  to  talk  Greek  to  an  audience  of  farmers  and  it 
would  be  absurd  to  speak  in  stilted  phrases  to  a  crowd 
of  sailors.  The  orator  must  place  himself  on  the  same 
level  with  the  intellect  ot  his  subject ;  he  must  find  a 
common  ground  from  which  he  may  start;  therefore  it 
is  advisable  to  introduce  first  ideas  that  are  familiar. 
These  first  ideas  being  admitted  as  old  friends,  he  can 
gradually  introduce  others.  Stump  orators  who  flourish 
and  operate  among  the  vulgar  classes  find  it  most  con- 
venient to  gain  entrance  by  flattery.  An  honest  man 
whose  ideas  will  speak  for  themselves  need  not  stoop 
to  such  means.  A  drummer  whose  goods  are  worth- 
less, commences  to  praise  the  taste  of  his  subject  and 
adds  that  everybody  of  good  taste  gives  the  preference 
to  his  merchandise.  A  wirepuller  in  a  political  cam- 
paign extols  the  intelligence  of  the  American  nation 
until  everyone  of  his  audience  feels  elated  and  proud 
of  being  so  intelligent.  Then  he  ventures  one  step 
further,  declaring  that  no  one  but  a  fool  can  believe  in 
principles  such  as  those  of  the  other  party. 

The  communication  of  ideas  is  an  art.    Yet  the  sub- 


SUGGESTIBILITY  OF  CROWDS.         317 

jects  to  whom  ideas  are  communicated  should  under- 
stand the  mechanical  laws  of  that  art.  Knowledge  is 
a  preservative,  a  protection  against  evil  suggestions, 
because  it  affords  a  means  to  discriminate  between 
good  and  evil. 

An  excellent  example  of  the  method  how  under  most 
difficult  circumstances  certain  ideas  can  be  suggested 
to  a  mass  of  people  that  are  not  willing  to  accept  them, 
is  the  famous  scene  on  the  Roman  forum  in  Shake- 
speare's Julius  Ctzsar.  Brutus  is  demanded  to  give 
an  account  of  the  murder  of  Caesar,  and  he  justifies 
himself  to  the  general  satisfaction  of  his  audience. 
"Who  is  here  so  base,"  he  asks,  "that  would  be  a 
bondman?"  Of  course,  every  one  wants  to  be  a  free 
man,  a  Roman  citizen.  To  the  question  "Why  Brutus 
rose  against  Caesar?"  he  answers  :  "Not  that  I  loved 
Caesar  less,  but  that  I  loved  Rome  more.  ...  As  Caesar 
loved  me,  I  weep  for  him ;  as  he  was  fortunate,  I  re- 
joice at  it ;  as  he  was  valiant,  I  honor  him ;  but  as  he 
was  ambitious,  I  slew  him." 

Brutus's  oratory  is  natural  and  it  is  grand  in  its 
simplicity.  Its  fallacies  are  believed  in  by  himself. 
He  committed  a  noble  crime  when  he  stabbed  his 
fatherly  friend ;  and  his  speech  is  convincing  because 
it  shows  the  nobility  of  his  motive. 

Mark  Antony  has  a  more  difficult  position  ;  he  is 
looked  upon  as  the  defendant  of  an  ambitious  tyrant, 
and  it  appears  as  specially  objectionable  to  say  any- 
thing derogatory  of  such  honest  men  as  Brutus,  Cas- 
sius,  and  the  other  conspirators.  He  therefore,  de- 
clares it  his  intention  only  to  perform  the  burial,  which 
none  of  the  proud  and  free  Roman  citizens  would  deny 
the  meanest  man  in  Italy.  He  praises  the  honesty  of 
Brutus  and  the  conspirators,  by  whose  kind  permis- 


3i 8  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

sion  he  is 'allowed  to  speak.  Here  is  the  trick  of  his 
oratory,  and  Mark  Antony  is  fully  conscious  of  it. 
He  does  not  start  from  a  common  ground  ;  but  he 
starts  from  an  idea  strongly  supported  by  his  hearers, 
which  is  the  very  same  idea  that  he  is  about  to  give 
battle  to,  and  to  destroy.  Mark  Antony  is  open  to  the 
charge  of  equivocation.  He  is  not  honest  and  square 
like  Brutus.  He  deliberately  and  cautiously  instills 
one  drop  of  venom  after  another  into  the  souls  of 
his  "  subjects  "  until  they  are  full  to  the  brim  and  cry 
for  vengeance  on  the  murderers  of  Caesar.  It  is  true 
he  prosecutes  criminals,  and  the  criminals  ought  to  be 
punished.  But  his  prosecution  is  not  dictated  by  the 
love  of  justice  but  by  the  desires  of  a  robber  to  de- 
prive his  successful  brother-robbers  of  their  spoil. 
After  having  stirred  the  free  citizens,  the  proud  Ro- 
mans and  masters  of  the  world  into  a  furious  excite- 
ment, he  says  : 

"  Now  let  it  work.     Mischief,  thou  art  afoot, 
Take  thou  what  course  thou  wilt. 

This  masterpiece  of  Shakespeare's  dramatic  genius 
faithfully  depicts  the  type  of  crowds.  The  conquerors 
of  the  world  had  in  Caesar's  time  ceased  to  be  free  men, 
they  lacked  the  backbone  of  the  contemporaries  of 
the  Scipios,  of  a  Cincinnatus,  and  of  a  Fabricius.  They 
allowed  their  sympathies  and  their  votes  to  be  turned 
by  any  demagogue  in  whatever  direction  he  pleased, 
all  the  while  imagining  that  they  were  free  men,  and 
that  they  acted  of  their  own  accord.  If  the  citizens 
of  a  republic  cease  to  be  independent,  if  they  are  of  a 
suggestible  nature,  they  are  not  worth  their  freedom, 
and  they  will  become  the  prey  of  unscrupulous  wire- 
pullers, or  their  government  will  soon  cease  to  be  a 
republic. 


SUGGESTIBILITY  OF  CROWDS.         319 

There  is  a  lesson  for  America  !  Our  politicians 
even  to-day  use  the  basest  flattery.  They  tell  us  that 
we  are  the  greatest  and  most  intelligent  nation  ;  we 
are  wise  and  independent.  Having  hypnotized  their 
audience  with  such  cheap  and  vile  phrases,  they  instill 
their  suggestions  into  the  souls  of  the  brave  and  the 
free  with  impunity. 

Let  every  American  citizen  be  wary.  Whenever 
a  stump- speaker  begins  to  flatter,  be  on  your  guard, 
for  it  is  almost  certain  that  he  is  about  to  deceive  you. 
Our  people  should  do  less  shouting  and  more  thinking 
in  election  campaigns,  and  every  single  individual  who 
attends  a  meeting  should  feel  himself  responsible 
for  the  expressions  of  indignation  or  enthusiasm  of 
the  whole  assembly. 

A  republic  needs  independent  citizens,  quick  in 
comprehension,  but  slow  in  judgment,  and  tenacious 
in  that  which  they  have  recognized  as  right.  Every 
honest  thinker  must  endeavor  to  counteract  the  sug- 
gestibility of  the  masses  by  the  proper  education  of 
our  people. 

SENTIMENTAL    ARGUMENTS. 

One  of  the  most  effective  methods  of  suggesting 
ideas,  or  plans,  or  propositions,  is  the  employment  of 
sentimental  arguments.  The  results  of  a  certain  ac- 
tion is  described,  and  the  suggester  (be  he  orator,  or 
author,  or  politician,  or  demagogue,  or  preacher,  or 
teacher,  or  a  fantastic  dreamer)  dwells  at  length  upon 
the  details  of  his  description,  taking  for  granted  that 
these  must  be  the  natural  consequences  of  his  scheme. 
He  excites  the  sentiment,  the  sympathy,  the  hopes 
and  fears  of  his  "subject."  And  his  subject  whose 
critical  powers  are  lulled  asleep  under  the  influence  of 


320  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

some  delightful  dream,  becomes  an  enthusiast  for  his 
scheme.  Being  anxious  about  the  result,  he  forgets  to 
examine  whether  the  proposed  scheme  really  leads  to 
that  result;  and  if  he  really  makes  an  attempt  to  ex- 
amine the  validity  and  soundness  of  the  plan,  he 
has,  in  the  meantime,  become  so  infatuated  and  intox- 
icated with  the  beautiful  vision  depicted  to  him,  that 
he  has  ceased  to  be  impartial ;  he  is  no  longer  unbiased, 
and  has  become  unable  to  examine  the  issue  without  a 
prejudice. 

Sentimental  arguments  are  dangerous,  because 
they  come  to  us  like  friends  :  they  appear  most  inno- 
cent and  harmless  in  sheep's  clothes.  The  fleece  of  a 
sheep  may  hide  a  wolf  or  a  real  sheep,  and  which 
of  the  two  would  be  the  worse  is  sometimes  difficult  to 
tell.  Ideas  comparable  to  wolves  make  the  man  in 
whose  brain  they  dwell,  appear  most  dangerous,  but 
those  ideas  that  resemble  the  ovine  species,  I  am  in- 
clined to  regard  as  the  greatest  of  all  evils,  for  the 
heads  in  which  they  live  and  for  society  also. 

A  man  whose  opinion  is  founded  upon  sentimental 
arguments  usually  considers  those  fellow-mortals  of  his 
who  are  of  a  different  opinion  as  rascals,  for  men  who 
oppose  this  or  that  pet  scheme  must  have,  so  it  ap- 
pears, a  different  sentiment.  They  seem  to  stand  in 
opposition  to  the  result  of  the  scheme,  and  thus  they 
must  be,  and  are  often  declared  to  be,  villainous  rogues. 

The  fallacy  of  a  sentimental  logic  is  apparent  to 
every  clear-minded  person,  and  we  must '  accordingly 
be  on  our  guard  against  it.  Every  man  should  make 
it  a  rule  for  his  thinking,  never  to  form  an  opinion 
on  mere  sentimental  grounds. 


SUGGESTIBILITY  OF  CROWDS.         321 

INSINUATION    AND    SUGGESTION. 

The  most  insidious  method  of  hypnotizers  is  what 
we  may  call  "suggestion  by  insinuation."  For  in- 
stance :  The  hypnotizer  introduces  his  ideas  by  hints 
rather  than  by  a  direct  communication.  He  puts  a 
question  which  implies  the  supposition  of  a  certain  fact. 
And  the  unwary  'subject,'  while  bothering  about  an 
answer,  gets  accustomed  to  the  fictitious  fact  ;  his 
imagination  is  set  at  work  to  depict  certain  details  of 
the  occurrence.  Amid  these  details,  worked  out  in  his 
imagination,  he  forgets  the  main  thing  :  namely,  to  in- 
vestigate whether  the  fact  is  true  itself.  His  account 
of  the  event  is  now  based  upon  a  fact.  This  fact  is  the 
memory  of  his  imagination.  The  idea  of  such  an  event 
has  become  by  insinuation  a  reality  in  his  brain,  he  re- 
members it  plainly,  and  being  unable  to  discriminate 
between  the  memory  of  a  real  experience  and  a  com- 
mon report  of  an  occurrence,  he  will,  in  best  faith, 
take  an  oath  upon  the  truth  of  his  statement. 

How  dangerous  suggestibility  by  insinuation  is, 
our  lawyers  have  ample  opportunity  to  ascertain. 
From  my  own  experience  I  know  of  a  case  where,  in 
a  trial  for  alleged  murder,  a  Polish  woman  presented, 
upon  the  questions  proposed,  her  evidence  against  the 
defendant  in  such  a  way  that  her  whole  testimony  be- 
came a  tangle  of  improbable  and  impossible  state- 
ments. It  was  a  dream,  incidentally  suggested  in  pre- 
liminary examinations  by  questions  which  intimated 
to  her  how  it  might  ha.ve  been.  Her  vivid  imagination 
made  her  suppositions  appear  to  her  as  real  happenings, 
and  in  court  she  gave  her  evidence  on  oath. 

There  were  questions  like  these. 

"What  time  was  it?" 

"  It  was  half  past  four  in  the  morning." 


322  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

"Did  you  not  yesterday  say  it  was  a  quarter  to 
seven  ?" 

"No,  I  did  not.  I  said  it  was  exactly  half  past 
four." 

In  a  preliminary  examination  she  had  said  it  was 
a  quarter  to  seven,  but  in  the  meantime  it  had  become 
manifest,  that  if  it  had  been  a  quarter  to  seven  all  her 
testimony  would  be  irrelevant. 

"How  do  you  know  that  it  was  exactly  half  past 
four?" 

"When  I  saw  this  man,  I  looked  at  the  clock  to 
see  what  time  it  was,  and  the  clock  was  exactly  half 
past  four." 

It  was  not  difficult  to  prove  that  from  the  window 
at  which  she  was,  it  was  impossible  to  see  the  spot  where 
she  fancied  to  have  seen  the  man  against  whom  she 
gave  evidence.  So  it  must  have  been  a  case  of  self- 
suggestion. 

The  worst  insinuations  are  those  devised  from  per- 
sonal malice.  Some  villain,  for  instance,  writes  a  letter 
to  a  man  with  the  intention  to  throw  suspicion  upon 
his  character.  The  tone  of  the  letter  is  friendly ;  he 
writes  with  a  pretense  of  kindness  and  frankness,  yet 
among  the  sentences  there  are  phrases  like  this  :  "  You 
showed  some  anxiety  about  the  matter  and  I  am  glad 
that  I  can  be  of  service  to  you."  Thus  a  statement 
is  introduced  together  with  an  insinuation  that  the  per- 
son addressed  had  some  reason  to  be  anxious  about  it. 
Whether  this  is  true  or  not,  .the  letter  if  read  by 
others,  or  if  perhaps  later  on  presented  in  court,  will 
throw  suspicion  upon  the  person  addressed. 

The  method  of  insinuation  is  the  more  surreptitious, 
the  more  trivial  the  details  are  that  are  introduced  in 
connection  therewith.  The  details  may  be  true,  while 


SUGGESTIBILITY  OF  CROWDS.         323 

the  fact  insinuated  is  perhaps  absolutely  false.  If  the 
truth  of  the  details  can  be  proved,  the  insinuation  is 
most  likely  to  find  credit. 

Villains  who  employ  such  means  are  liable  to  do 
great  harm.  There  is  one  antidote  only  against  the 
refined  venom  of  such  knaves,  and  that  is  independ- 
ence of  judgment.  A  man  who  is  able  to  discriminate 
between  true  facts  that  are  proved,  and  fictitious  facts 
that  are  insinuated,  will  be  able  to  see  through  the 
schemes  of  a  trickster,  and  take  his  statements  for 
exactly  what  they  are — insinuations.  They  are  not 
proved  simply  by  being  suggested,  but  require  to  be 
proved ;  and  if  they  can  be  proved  to  be  false  they  are 
evidences  of  villany. 


The  lesson  of  this  is  that  Psychology  is  a  study  too 
much  neglected  ;  it  is  indispensable  for  every  one  who 
has  to  deal  with  people  ;  and  who  has  not  ?  the  physi- 
cian, the  clergyman,  the  employer  of  labor,  the  officer 
in  the  army,  the  professor,  the  merchant,  the  banker, 
almost  every  one  has  to  deal  with  people,  and,  above 
all,  the  lawyer.  Self-knowledge  is  not  sufficient  to 
make  us  free,  it  must  be  self-knowledge  and  the 
knowledge  of  other  people  ;  it  must  be  self-knowledge 
in  the  broadest  sense,  knowledge  of  the  soul,  of  the 
motives  that  work  upon,  and  can  be  employed  to  af- 
fect, man's  sentiments.  It  is  only  knowledge  that  can 
make  us  free  ;  and  knowledge  will  make  us  free.  And 
because  it  makes  us  free,  knowledge,  and  chiefly  so 
psychological  knowledge,  is  power. 


THE  SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HYPNOTISM. 


THE  entire  mass  of  psychological  data  furnished 
by  modern  researches,  and  especially  by  hypnotic  in- 
vestigations, may  be  divided  into  three  groups  : 

(1)  The  normal  phenomena  of  soul-life,  which  can 
be  observed  in  every-day  life ; 

(2)  Abnormal  phenomena  of  soul-life,  which  can  be 
reproduced  under  special  conditions  and  thus  admit 
of  verification  by  experiment;  and 

(3)  Abnormal  phenomena  of  soul-life  observed  by 
certain  individuals  who  are  supposed,   or  claim,  to  be 
in  possession  of  special  gifts  (such  as  second  sight  and 
telepathy). 

The  data  of  the  first  two  classes  alone  can  be  con- 
sidered as  indubitable  facts  ;  those  of  the  third  class 
rest  on  a  very  weak  authority,  considering  the  in- 
numerable illusions  that  can  take  place  in  individuals 
given  to  the  belief  in  the  miraculous. 

The  psychological  data  of  indubitable  character, 
i.  e.,  the  phenomena  of  every  one's  normal  soul-life, 
and  those  experiments  of  psychic  research  which  ad- 
mit of  verification  by  experiment,  we  have  learned, 
exhibit  a  strong  tendency  to  corroborate  the  monistic 
view  of  psychological  phenomena.  Dualism  indeed 
is  limited  to  the  third  class  as  a  store-house  for  its 
weapons  of  attack,  and  psychologists  of  a  dualistic 
bias  have  therefore  taken  pains  to  gather  all  attainable 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HYPNOTISM.        325 

reports  about  telepathy  and  second  sight  as  experienced 
by  certain  individuals  of  a  specially  spiritual  nature. 
If  dualists  wish  to  convince  the  world  of  the  truth  of 
dualism,  they  must  derive  their  proofs  from  the  data 
of  the  two  first  classes,  which  are  generally  acknowl- 
edged as  facts  by  science.  These,  however,  seem  to 
exclude  a  dualistic  interpretation  ;  so  strong  is  their 
evidence  in  favor  of  the  inseparable  unity  of  psycho- 
logical and  physiological  phenomena  ! 

Ideas  are  no  disembodied  ghosts  created  from 
supersensible  or  supernatural  elements,  they  are  real 
structures  that  live  in  our  brain,  possessed  of  a  definite 
form  and  produced  in  the  nervous  substance  through 
sensory  impressions.  In  calling  them  ideas,  we  do 
not,  however,  as  a  rule  refer  to  their  physiological 
objectivity,  which  forms  their  bodily  reality,  but  to 
their  spiritual  subjectivity  :  we  refer  to  that  indescrib- 
able phenomenon  which  every  living  being  experiences 
when  he  feels  and  thinks.  The  whole  empire  of  sub- 
jective experiences  is  called  the  ideal,  while  the  pro- 
cesses of  motion  that  take  place  in  the  world  of  objec- 
tive existences,  are  called  the  real.* 

Dualism  looks  upon  the  real  and  the  ideal  as  two 
distinct  worlds  which  exist  independently  of  each 
other.  In  the  human  body,  it  is  conceded,  they  are 
united  into  a  wonderful  harmony.  The  ideal  inhabits 
the  real  as  a  house  ;  the  spirit  animates  the  body  for 
some  time,  but  it  may  leave  the  body,  as  a  prisoner 
leaves  his  prison,  thenceforth  to  live  as  a  pure  spirit. 

Monism   looks   upon  the  ideal  and  the  real  as  two 

*  The  word  real  may  be  used  in  a  limited  and  in  a  more  extended  sense. 
In  the  former  sense,  when  strictly  confined  to  bodily  objectivity,  it  excludes 
the  ideal ;  in  the  latter  sense,  when  signifying  all  facts  that  can  become  objects 
of  experience,  it  includes  the  ideal  also.  Thoughts  and  feelings  are  ideal; 
and  yet  they  are  realities. 


326  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

inseparable  aspects  of  one  and  the  same  fact,  they 
are  two  abstractions  made  for  different  purposes  and 
abstracted  from  one  and  the  same  indivisible  object. 
Monism  considers  the  world  as  a  living  actuality, 
which  naturally  in  an  evolution  from  lower  to  higher 
forms  evolves  ever  higher  souls,  thus  raising  the  sub- 
jectivity of  atomic  life  to  the  intellectuality  of  a  human 
being. 

When  we  speak  of  the  ideal  in  man,  (ideal  is  here 
used  in  the  philosophical  sense  of  the  purely  subjective,) 
we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  ideal  and  the  real  do 
not  in  actual  life  exclude  one  another.  Feelings  pure 
and  simple  without  their  proper  physiological  conditions 
do  not  exist ;.  thoughts  without  the  thinking  brain-struc- 
tures in  which  they  take  place,  are  impossible.  We 
might  just  as  well  speak  of  movement  without  a 
moving  body.  Therefore  the  ideal  by  itself,  the 
thinking  subject,  abstract  and  absolute,  is  an  absur- 
dity. It  does  not  exist.  The  thinking  subject  is  al- 
ways at  the  same  time  a  bodily  object  of  actual  and 
material  reality.  Not  only  the  thinking  subject  upon 
the  whole,  but  every  detail  of  the  thinking  subject's 
feelings,  his  sensations  and  thoughts, — every  irritation 
felt,  every  idea  thought, — every  emotion  taking  place 
in  the  empire  of  the  ideal,  mean  at  the  same  time  a 
special  modification  of  nervous  substance  in  the  empire 
of  the  real.  The  parallelism  between  the  real  and  the 
ideal  is,  so  far  as  science  has  investigated,  uncontra- 
dicted  and  perfect. 

The  ideal  therefore  is  a  special  kind  of  reality ; 
and  indeed  it  is  the  most  important  part,  the  most 
real  and  most  actual  element  of  reality.  The  ideal 
in  its  highest  development,  being  the  empire  of  feeling 
and  thinking  subjectivity,  is  the  product  of  organized 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HYPNOTISM.        327 

life.  The  non- organized  elements  can  be  said  to  con- 
tain the  germs  only,  the  mere  potentiality  to  bring  forth 
the  empire  of  the  ideal.  In  the  sensations  and  thoughts 
of  sentient  creatures  the  different  objects  of  reality  are 
depicted  ;  they  are  mirrored  therein  as  images,  as  ideas. 
The  literal  translation  of  the  Greek  word  idea  (eidos*)  is 
image.  The  ideal  is  the  realm  of  representations  ;  and 
the  objects  represented  in  the  subjectivity  of  a  sentient 
being,  are  the  objective  realities  of  its  own  body  and 
of  the  things  of  the  surrounding  world. 

The  existence  of  the  ideal  gives  meaning  and  pur- 
pose to  the  world  of  bodily  realities.  Sentient  beings 
can  make  the  objects  around  them  subservient  to  their 
needs  and  comforts;  and  man,  the  firstborn  son  of 
nature,  will  have  dominion  over  the  earth  in  propor- 
tion as  his  ideas  are  correct  images  of  things  and  of 
the  relations  among  things. 

The  monistic  view  is  thus  corroborated  through 
those  results  of  psychology  which  can  be  considered 
as  indubitable  facts.  An  idea,  being  a  bodily  struc- 
ture of  nervous  substance  and  being  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  organism,  viz.,  the  brain,  must  be  of  par- 
amount importance,  even  if  we  consider  its  activity 
as  a  mere  physiological  process.  The  brain  is  the 
capital  of  the  body ;  it  is  the  seat  of  the  government, 
whence  orders  are  issued  to,  and  obeyed  in,  all  the 
various  provinces  of  the  different  organs  and  limbs. 

Facts  being  as  they  are,  can  we  wonder  that  ideas 
of  fear,  of  worry  and  anxiety  produce  pathological 
conditions  in  the  body  ? 

It  is  well  known  that  sudden  or  extraordinary 
terror  may  kill  a  person.  Goethe  describes  in  his 
Erlking  how  a  child  dies  from  fright  in  the  arms 
of  his  father  riding  on  horseback  through  a  stormy 


328  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

night.  The  boy  imagines  that  the  Erlking  is  attempt- 
ing to  snatch  him  away  and  thus  he  becomes  a  prey 
of  the  phantoms  of  his  own  imagination. 

Similarly  Gottfried  Burger  describes  the  death  of 
Leonore  with  masterly  accuracy,  as  if  he  had  studied 
in  hospitals  the  deliriums  of  fever-patients.  Leonore 
expects  her  betrothed  home  from  the  war,  but  she  does 
not  find  him  among  those  who  return.  In  despair  she 
beats  her  bosom  and  tears  her  hair,  but  in  the  hush 
of  night  she  hears  him  knock  at  the  door,  she  sees 
him  enter,  his  horse  is  waiting  and  he  takes  her  along 
over  dale  and  hill,  over  rivers  and  mountains  far  away 
to  be  married — in  the  grave. 

There  is  an  old  story  about  a  court-fool  (which 
may  briefly  be  told  without  vouching  for  its  truth).  He 
was  condemned  to  death  by  the  sword.  The  duke, 
however,  had  pardoned  him,  but  had  given  the  order 
not  to  let  him  know.  The  fool's  punishment  should 
be,  to  go  through  all  the  terrors  of  execution.  The 
executioner,  then,  should  strike  the  blow  not  with  a 
sword  but  with  a  sausage.  When  the  fool,  so  the 
story  goes,  received  the  harmless  stroke,  he  fell,  dead, 
to  the  ground.  He  died  from  the  fear  of  death.* 

The  physiological  reality  of  ideas  renders  it  neces- 
sary that  the  ideas  of  the  central  soul  influence  the 
unconscious  activity  of  the  peripheral  soul.  This  is 
especially  noticeable  in  certain  functions,  for  instance 
in  the  movements  of  the  digestive  organs,  which  are 
not  under  the  control  of  the  will,  yet  are  strongly  and 
almost  immediately  influenced  by  certain  states  of  mind 
in  one  or  another  way.  Unusual  wrath  poisons  the 
milk  of  a  mother  ;  and  great  excitement  so  alters  the 

*The  story  is  told  in  many  different  versions. 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HYPNOTISM.        329 

secretion  of  saliva  that  the  bites  of  infuriated  dogs  or 
of  other  animals  become  extremely  dangerous. 

Almost  all  hypnotists  report  cases  in  which  burns 
and  blisters  have  been  produced  by  means  of  suggestion. 
A  certain  part  of  the  skin  is  touched  with  a  harmless 
instrument  or  with  the  finger,  and  after  a  while  an  in- 
flammation appears  at  the  very  same  spot,  reprodu- 
cing the  exact  form  of  the  contact.  This  proves  that 
the  trophic  functions  of  the  muscles  and  the  skin, 
those  functions  that  build  the  wasted  tissues  up  again, 
and  nourish  them,  stand  in  close  connection  with  the 
nerves  and  depend  upon  their  activity.  We  do  not 
believe  that  the  burn  produced  through  suggestion  is 
a  real  burn ;  it  is  the  perturbation  of  the  trophic  func- 
tion of  the  nerves,  caused  through  the  idea  that  a  re- 
action is  necessary  against  an  imaginary  wound. 
Thereby  redness  is  produced  which  has  the  appear- 
ance of  inflammation. 

The  blood  perspiration  attributed  to  certain  saints 
and  the  appearance  of  the  holy  stigmata  on  their  bodies 
must  likewise  be  explained  as  the  results  of  sugges- 
tion :  they  are  produced  through  the  auto-suggestion 
of  prayer  and  a  strong  concentration  of  the  mind. 

While  terror,  cares,  and  worry  will  have  injurious 
effects,  joyous  and  gay  ideas  may  in  the  same  way  act 
as  a  medicine  for  good.  The  firm  confidence  of  a  pa- 
tient in  his  physician,  the  strong  hope  of  convalescence 
will  under  otherwise  favorable  conditions  do  a  great 
deal  in  curing,  and  healing,  and  soothing.  The  men- 
tal disposition  of  a  patient  is  of  great  and  incalcul- 
able importance  in  the  cure. 

Man's  imagination  is  no  empty  nothing  ;  nor  is  it  a 
mere  psychical  and  purely  subjective  illusion.  Every 
single  act  of  imagination  is  a  real  physiological  process 


330  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

which  can  be  made  available  to  do  a  certain  amount  of 
work.  There  is  some  truth  in  the  methods  of  faith- 
cure,  yet  we  should  be  wary  not  to  overrate  the  power 
of  imagination.  Ideas  as  physiological  processes  and 
in  their  physiological  effects  have  a  special  and  limited 
province ;  and  we  cannot  expect  that  they  should  cure 
a  cancer  or  set  aright  a  broken  leg. 

Considering  the  great  effects  often  produced  under 
the  spell  of  a  properly  directed  imagination,  several 
physicians  in  France,  Switzerland,  and  in  other  coun- 
tries have  proposed  to  use  hypnotism  and  suggestion 
as  curative  methods  for  all  kinds  of  diseases.  They 
have  been  successful  to  some  extent,  although  the  ex- 
travagant hopes  that  hypnotism  might  be  a  panacea 
were  by  no  means  fulfilled.  On  the  contrary,  all  the 
results  hitherto  obtained,  it  seems,  are  such  as  might 
also  have  been  produced  through  the  bringing  on  of 
natural  sleep. 

Extravagant  reports  about  cures  effected  by  such 
hypnotizers  are  not  beyond  the  suspicion  of  self-de- 
lusion, and  cannot  be  accepted  without  reserve.  Most 
of  our  hypnotizers — among  them  even  some  of  great 
name — suffer  from  the  same  disease  as  their  patients; 
namely,  from  illusions.  Many  cures  are  effected  on 
individuals  who  have  an  imaginary  disease,  which  dis- 
appears under  the  influence  of  a  counter-imagination. 
In  such  a- case  the  disease  as  well  as  the  cure  is  an  hal- 
lucination of  the  patient  in  which  his  physician  kindly 
shares. 

There  are  other  cases  in  which  the  patient  suffers 
from  a  real  disease,  which  seems  to  be  overcome  under 
the  influence  of  hopeful  and  elevating  hallucinations. 
The  cure  appears  to  be  perfect  for  a  time ;  yet  there 


SIGNIFICANCE  OF  HYPNOTISM.        331 

comes  a  relapse  after  a  while  against  which  no  faith- 
cure  or  hypnotism  will  avail. 

Natural  sleep  is  undoubtedly  one  of  the  strongest 
and  best  curatives.  Perhaps  it  is  the  very  best  med- 
icine that  can  be  employed.  Hypnotism,  it  seems  to  me, 
should  be  resorted  to  by  the  physician  only  under  such 
circumstances  where  natural  sleep  cannot  be  had. 

The  wonderful  effects  of  natural  sleep  will  find  their 
explanation,  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  in  the  state  of 
rest  together  with  the  obliteration  of  consciousness 
the  trophic  functions  of  the  nerves  seem  to  increase  in 
proportion  as  other  activities  cease.  Sleep,  therefore, 
is  the  state  of  re-generation,  it  is  the  restoration  of  the 
vitality  expended  during  the  period  of  activity.  It  is  a 
process  of  hoarding  up  again  in  the  tissues  of  the  or- 
ganism that  potential  energy  which  affords  new  life 
and  fresh  vigor  to  think  and  to  act. 


THE  DANGERS  OF  HYPNOTISM. 


IN  spite  of  the  many  astonishing  results  that  have 
been  obtained  through  hypnotic  treatment,  we  never- 
theless must  beware  of  anticipating  more  than  it  re- 
ally can  be  expected  to  achieve.  It  is  perhaps  natu- 
ral that  the  idea  of  rest  should  act  soothingly  upon 
the  nerves,  but,  still,  we  must  not  imagine  that  the 
illusion  that  we  hear  well  will  cure  deafness,  or  the 
illusion  that  we  possess  excellent  eyesight  will  remove 
the  blindness  of  a  cataract.  A  correct  view  of  the 
nature  of  ideas  will  guard  us  from  erroneous  expecta- 
tions of  this  kind,  and  physicians  therefore  will  have 
to  limit  the  application  of  psychical  means  (and  es- 
pecially of  hypnotism  and  suggestion)  to  such  phys- 
iological conditions  that  can  directly  or  at  least  in- 
directly be  reached  and  influenced  by  psychical  meth- 
ods. Psychical  cures,  accordingly,  must  be  restricted 
in  the  main  to  nervous  diseases. 

We  consider  it  as  our  duty  on  this  occasion  to 
caution  against  the  abuse  of  hypnotism  that  is  fre- 
quently practiced  by  half-scientific  people  and  some- 
times even  by  prominent  physicians.  Hypnotism,  as 
a  means  of  cure,  should  be  employed  as  little  as 
possible,  and  in  such  cases  only  where  natural  sleep 
cannot  be  produced  ;  and  even  then  it  must  be  em- 
ployed with  discretion. 

Dr.  Luys  reports  several  cases  in  which  patients 
hopelessly  ill  have  been  restored  to  health  by  the  ap- 


THE  DANGERS  OF  HYPNOTISM.       333 

plication  of  hypnotism.  He  speaks,  for  example,  of  a 
man  who  had  been  debilitated  by  insomnia.  His  di- 
gestion was  impaired,  his  walk  tottering,  the  nervous 
system  prostrated,  and  his  entire  constitution  was  un- 
dermined. He  had  been  given  up  by  several  physi- 
cians. Dr.  Luys  treated  him  several  times  in  vain, 
but  finally  with  success.  The  patient  improved  per- 
ceptibly, and  soon  was  perfectly  cured.  To  cure 
nervous  diseases  that  are  caused  by  insomnia,  in 
fact,  seems  to  me  the  main  purpose  to  which  hypnosis 
can  profitably  be  applied. 

There  are  also  reported  cases  of  inveterate  vices 
and  evil  habits,  (for  instance  dipsomania,)  that  are 
said  to  have  been  completely  cured  by  means  of  hyp- 
notic suggestion.  And  the  applicability  of  hypnosis 
in  certain  desperate  cases,  when  all  other  expedients 
have  failed,  may  under  exceptional  conditions  likewise 
be  justified. 

The  rotating  mirror  invented  by  Dr.  Luys  seems 
to  be  the  best  and  least  injurious  means  of  producing 
artificial  sleep.  It  is  an  instrument  with  two  wings 
not  unlike  the  automatic  fly- fan,  only  much  smaller 
and  studded  with  small  glittering  pieces  of  glass.  The 
wings  are  fixed  upon  a  pin,  which  when  wound  up 
sets  them  into  a  rapid  revolving  motion.  The  patient 
being  comfortably  seated  in  an  arm-chair,  is  requested 
to  stare  at  the  mirror.  The  giddily  rapid,  monotonous 
rotation  by  and  by  tires  the  eyes  and  produces  a  feel- 
ing of  fatigue,  so  that  the  patient  is  soon  very  likely 
to  fall  asleep. 

It  is  more  than  doubtful  whether  the  anaesthesia 
of  the  cataleptic  condition  should  be  employed  in  ope- 
rations. Narcotics  have  hitherto  proved  by  far  more 
reliable  and  less  injurious. 


334  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

It  does  not  seem  advisable  to  employ  the  cataleptic 
state  in  cases  of  childbirth,  as  Dr.  Luys  and  other 
French  physicians  have  done.  To  be  prepared  for 
the  occasion,  it  is  necessary  that  many  weeks  pre- 
vious to  her  confinement,  the  woman  be  hypnotized 
daily.  If  this  were  not  done,  the  hypnosis  would 
most  likely  not  succeed  at  the  critical  moment.  But 
this  exemption  from  the  throes  of  a  few  painful  hours 
are  bought  at  an  exorbitant  price  !  We  have  to  con- 
sider that  henceforth  throughout  the  whole  life  the 
woman  will  remain  predisposed  to  hypnotic  states. 
And  still  worse  :  a  fatal  germ  of  the  same  predisposi- 
tion is  most  probably  implanted  in  the  infant  born. 

A  predisposition  to  hypnotism,  at  all  events,  must 
be  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  dangerous  kinds  of 
disease.  It  is  an  extremely  serious  misfortune.  A  pre- 
disposition to  hypnosis  is  a  diseased,  abnormal  state  of 
the  nerves.  Individuals  who  either  by  nature  or  through 
artificial  methods  possess  a  predisposition  of  this  kind, 
are  but  to  a  limited  degree  their  own  masters.  Not 
only  the  hypnotizer  himself  has  an  absolute  control 
over  them,  but  every  stranger,  by  skillful  manipulation, 
may  influence  their  soul-life,  and  can  render  them  ser- 
viceable to  his  private  ends. 

It  is  maintained  by  some  hypnotizers  that  en- 
croachments of  this  sort  can  be  prevented,  by  impart- 
ing to  the  subject  the  suggestion,  that  he  should  not 
submit  to  be  hypnotized  by  any  one  but  his  own  hyp- 
notizer or  physician.  But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  every 
suggestion  can  be  counteracted  or  modified  by  another 
suggestion.  An  impostor  might  easily  introduce  him- 
self as  the  physician's  deputy,  and  there  are  a  hundred 
other  means  at  his  disposal.  Once  having  been 
admitted  into  the  confidence  of  the  subject,  he 


THE  DANGERS  OF  HYPNOTISM.       335 

will  quickly  usurp   the  entire   control  over  his  or  her 
soul. 

We  certainly  should  regard  it  as  a  national  calamity 
if  the  majority  of  a  people  had  acquired  a  predisposi- 
tion to  hypnotism.  The  independence  of  individuals 
would  be  destroyed,  for  that  trait  consists  in  the  ca- 
pacity to  resist  obnoxious  suggestions.  It  is  generally 
admitted  by  all  psychologists  that  hypnotism  affords  an 
easy  means  for  criminals  safely  to  commit  their  crimes 
through  unconscious  middle-men  as  instruments  of  the 
deed.  The  danger  of  hypnotism  is  increased  by  the 
possibility  of  "timing"  the  execution  of  a  post-hyp- 
notic suggestion.  Forel  says  upon  the  subject : 

"The  enormous  importance  of  suggestion  at  appointed  time 
or  '  a  echeance '  is  manifest.  We  are  able  for  a  definite  period  of 
time  to  predetermine  the  thoughts  and  resolutions  of  hypnotized 
subjects  when  the  hypnotizer  himself  is  no  longer  present ;  in  ad- 
dition one  can  give  to  the  suggestion  the  appearance  of  a  free  de- 
cision of  the  will.  One  is  further  able  to  suggest  to  the  hypnotized 
subject  the  belief  that  the  impulse  did  not  come  from  the  hypno- 
tizer. Nay,  with  highly  suggestible  people  we  are  even  able  suc- 
cessfully to  suggest  the  total  amnesia  of  the  hypnotization  :  '  You 
have  never  been  hypnotized, '  we  may  say  ;  '  if  you  are  asked,  swear 
before  God,  that  in  all  your  life  you  have  never  once  bsen  hypno- 
tiz.ed  ;  I  myself  have  never  hypnotized  you. ' 

"  I  am  perfectly  aware,  that  in  this  consists,  perhaps,  the  most 
appalling  danger  of  hypnotism  in  the  administration  of  criminal 
justice." 

The  dangers  to  which  hypnotic  subjects  are  ex- 
posed in  the  respect  that  they  may  become  instruments 
of  crime  in  the  hands  of  unscrupulous  criminals,  great 
though  they  may  be,  are  trifles  compared  to  the 
dangers  rising  from  their  own  auto-suggestions.  Hyp- 
notic subjects  cease  to  be  able  to  control  their  own 
ideas.  Hallucinations  may  come  to  them  at  any 


336  THE  SGUL  OF  MAN. 

moment  and  lead  them  to  crimes  or   to  follies   of   all 
kinds. 

Dr.  Luys,  who,  if  he  is  partial,  is  rather  prejudiced 
in  favor  of  hypnotism,  says  : 

"  Hypnotized  subjects,  by  the  very  fact  that  they  are  undor 
the  influence  of  a  quite  special  mental  state,  or  even  subjects  that 
are  neuropathic  by  nature,  are  apt  to  present  this  strange  phenom- 
enon, that  through  the  automatic  action  of  the  cells  of  their  brains 
they  will  produce  truly  autogenetic  suggestions,  just  as  insane 
persons  are  seen  to  create  fixed  and  spontaneous  ideas.  At  one  time 
they  will  tell  you,  that  they  have  met  with  some  extraordinary  ex- 
perience, have  received  certain  strange  proposals,  are  acquainted 
with  persons  of  high  social  standing  ;  or  else,  they  will  accuse  some 
acquaintance  of  their  circle  of  having  spread  abroad  slander,  of 
robbing,  or  of  seeking  to  wrong  them.  Still,  all  these  denuncia- 
tions are  made  with  a  mien  of  absolute  sincerity,  and  if  one  did  not 
know  such  subjects  from  their  peculiar  psychological  point  of  view, 
one  might  really  be  tempted  to  lend  faith  to  their  statements.  It  is 
precisely  mental  habits  of  this  kind  that  frequently  cause  the 
society  of  hypnotic  subjects  to  prove  so  irksome  and  well-nigh 
unendurable  in  the  wards  of  public  hospitals. 

"  This  likewise  constitutes  a  point  of  contact  of  hypnotism 
with  insanity,  because  these  cases  of  suggestions  very  frequently 
are  produced  either  by  sensorial  illusions  or  by  persistent  halluci- 
nations, and  from  this  point  of  view  hypnotic  subjects  present 
the  exact  state  of  mind  of  persons  laboring  under  the  hallucina- 
tion of  persecution." 

The  dangers  arising  from  auto-suggestion  and  self- 
hypnotization  are  confirmed  almost  by  every  one  who 
is  familiar  with  the  subject.  Professor  Lombroso,* 
of  Turin,  reports  among  many  other  instances  the 
following  case. 

"An  artillery  officer,  who  was  hypnotized  at  a  public  seance, 
afterwards  became  almost  insane.  From  time  to  time  he  had 
attacks  of  spontaneous  hypnotism  at  the  sight  of  any  shining  ob- 
ject. He  would  follow  a  carriage  lamp  in  the  street,  as  though 

*  -See  Frederik  Bjornstrom,  Hypnotism,  Humboldt  Library,  No.  113,  p.  123. 


THE  DANGERS  OE  HYPNOTISM.        337 

spell-bound.  One  evening,  if  his  fellow-officer  had  not  saved  hirr, 
he  would  have  been  crushed  to  death  by  going  directly  towards  an 
approaching  carriage.  A  violent  hysterical  crisis  followed  this 
and  the  man  had  to  take  to  his  bed." 

The  whole  purpose  of  a  liberal  education  consists 
in  the  freedom,  independence,  and  self-reliance  of  the 
individual.  Accordingly,  we  can  observe  that  in  coun- 
tries where  men  and  women  are  raised  with  a  love  of 
liberty  and  independence  there  are  comparatively  few 
symptoms  of  hypnotism.  In  countries  in  which  children 
are  brought  up  to  become  mere  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  priests,  the  inclination  to  hypnosis  is  com- 
paratively strong.  Let  us  not  increase  the  natural 
tendency  of  weak  characters  to  allow  themselves  to  be 
guided  blindly ;  and  therefore  let  us  be  careful  to  avoid 
the  dangers  of  hypnotism. 

The  growing  generation  should  learn,  neither  to 
shut  out  new  ideas  nor  indiscriminately  to  accept 
them,  but  to  receive  them  with  critique  and  to  arrange 
them  in  proper  order  in  the  storehouse  of  general 
knowledge.  This  is  necessary  above  all  in  a  repub- 
lic in  which  every  citizen  is  called  upon  to  take  part 
in  the  government  of  the  state,  in  the  election  of  the 
authorities,  and  in  the  framing  of  the  laws. 


PLEASURE  AND  PAIN. 


KANT  says  somewhere,  "  Pleasure  is  the  feeling  of 
the  furtherance,  pain  of  the  hinderance  of  life,"  and 
expresses  in  this  sentence  an  opinion  that  has  been  in 
vogue  among  philosophers  since  time  immemorial. 
But  it  is  strange  that  neither  Kant  nor  any  other  thinker 
has  greatly  troubled  himself  with  a  careful  investiga- 
tion of  facts.  The  statement  seemed  so  obvious,  so 
direct  and  convincing,  that  it  received  almost  universal 
admittance  in  philosophy  ;  and  was  even  employed  as 
a  corner-stone  for  ethics  by  Epicurus,  Bentham,  Spen- 
cer, Hceffding,  and  others. 

Alexander  Bain  in  his  excellent  work  "Mind  and 
Body,"  quotes  Kant's  definition  and  develops  his  own 
as  follows  (p.  59): 

"  States  of  Pleasure  are  connected  with  an  increase,  states  of 
Pain  with  an  abatement,  of  some  or  all  of  the  vital  functions." 

Bain  adds  : 

"There  are,  however,  a  few  startling  exceptions.  For  ex- 
ample:— Cold  may  be  painful  and  yet  wholesome,  as  in  the  cold 
bath,  and  under  the  keen  bracing  air.  But  this  exception,  on 
closer  view,  confirms  the  general  rule,  while  rendering  its  applica- 
tion more  definite.  Cold  undoubtedly  depresses,  for  a  time,  one 
very  sensitive  organ,  the  skin,  perhaps  also  the  digestive  organs  ; 
while,  in  moderate  degree  (that  is,  the  degree  constituting  whole- 
someness)  it  exalts,  through  the  capillary  circulation,  the  lungs,  the 
keart,  the  muscles,  and  the  nerves  ;  and  the  contrast  teaches  us 
that  as  far  as  immediate  pleasure  is  concerned,  we  lose  more  by  de- 


PLEASURE  AND  PAIN.  339 

pressing  the  functions  of  the  skin  and  the  stomach,  than  we  gain 
by  increasing  the  power  of  the  heart,  the  lungs,  the  muscles,  or 
even  the  nerves  themselves. 

"Another  very  remarkable  exception  is  the  painlessness  of 
many  diseases,  together  with  the  occasional  absence  of  all  pain,  and 
even  the  presence  of  great  comfort,  in  the  sick  bed  and  in  the  final 
decay  of  life 

"The  connexion  of  pleasure  with  vitality,  and  of  pain  with 
feebleness  or  loss  of  function,  does  not  apply  to  all  organs  alike  ; 
some  are  comparatively  insensitive,  their  degeneracy  and  decay 
seem  unaccompanied  with  feeling  ;  while  in  others  the  smallest 
functional  derangement  is  productive  of  pain.  Muscular  weakness 
does  not  give  pain,  unless  we  are  compelled  to  efforts  beyond  our 
strength  ;  also  the  nervous  system  may  be  enfeebled  as  regards 
thinking  power  without  producing  discomfort,  provided  we  are 
allowed  perfect  repose 

"  Intellectual  feebleness,  decay  of  memory,  and  incapability 
of  thought,  are  not  painful  in  themselves 

"  We  often  see  patients  in  the  last  stage  of  consumption,  still 
entertaining  the  most  sanguine  prospects  of  recovery  ;  a  proof  that, 
instead  of  being  mentally  depressed,  they  are  in  the  opposite  or 
joyous  condition " 

There  is  no  sufficient  explanation  for  all  these  ex- 
ceptions to  Bain's  law  identifying  pleasure  with  a 
growth  and  pain  with  a  decay  of  the  vital  functions. 
Bain  says  that  sometimes  an  acute  smart  will  tempo- 
rarily raise  the  energies ;  it  will  have  the  effect  of  a 
stimulus.  But  this  explains  only  a  few  instances,  such 
as  a  cold  bath  or  the  influence,  of  keen,  bracing  air, 
and  these  instances  may  be  used  as  examples  to  show 
that  the  cold  bath  in  itself  can  by  repeated  indul- 
gence and  through  its  wholesome  effects  become  a 
pleasure.  First  it  becomes  a  want  and  then  the  satis- 
faction of  this  want  itself,  even  without  taking  into 
consideration  the  wholesome  after-effect,  is  felt  as 
pleasurable. 

Mr.  Bain  does  not,  and  I  think  he  cannot,  from  his 


340  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

standpoint,  remove  the  innumerable  difficulties  aris- 
ing from  exceptions  irreconcilable  with  his  law.  The 
degeneration  of  several  functions,  the  decrease  of  mus- 
cular and  nervous  activity,  and  even  the  dissolution 
by  consumption  are  by  no  means  always  painful  pro- 
cesses, and  yet  if  anything  they  are  decay,  they  are 
abatement.  Certainly,  the  law  is  wrong,  it  is  not  de- 
rived from  facts.  It  is  an  a-priori  statement  to  which 
facts  have  to  be  fashioned  in  order  to  agree. 

Pain  is  apparently  due  to  a  disturbance.  We  have 
for  instance  a  hollow  tooth ;  the  nerve  is  exposed  and 
the  slightest  irritation  causes  most  violent  pain.  There 
is  neither  growth  nor  decay  in  the  nerve,  yet  there  is 
suffering.  The  decay  of  the  osseous  parts  took  place 
without  pain.  Now  we  go  to  the  dentist  and,  supposing 
that  he  is  unable  to  save  the  nerve,  he  at  once  removes 
all  pain  by  the  aid  of  a  drop  of  cocaine,  or  carbolic 
acid,  or  any  other  drug  which  causes  the  nerve  to  die. 
Here  is  decay  without  pain.  When  infants  are  teeth- 
ing, there  is  growth  combined  with  pain.  Whatever 
the  tooth  may  feel  we  do  not  know  ;  yet  its  growth 
causes  disturbances  in  the  surrounding  parts  which 
are  perceived  as  pains.  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that 
in  children  growth  is  often  accompanied  with  pain 
which  is  felt  in  arms,  legs,  or  other  limbs.* 


*  Copulation,  which  is  supposed  to  be  a  pleasure,  is  not  growth,  but  a  com- 
bination merely.  Modern  researches  by  Weismann  and  others  have  shown 
that  it  is  a  natural  want  rising  from  the  insufficiency  of  an  individual  to  pro- 
pagate itself.  Its  physiological  condition  seems  to  be  the  divided  existence 
of  the  reproductive  germ,  so  that  each  sex  posesses  but  one  part.  The  con- 
tinuance and  regeneration  of  life  depend  upon  the  activity  of  the  germ.  Thus 
the  restoration  of  the  germ  becomes  a  necessity  and  want  of  self-preservation. 
The  natural  desire  for  fecundation  (not  the  other  sexual  instincts,  which 
through  heredity  became  strongly  connected  therewith)  is  an  expression  of 
the  yearning  for  immortal  life. 

If.  growth  were  a  pleasure,  then  child-bearing  in  itself,  apart  from  its 
results  should  be  the  height  of  earthly  enjoyment  which  perhaps  should  be 


PLEASURE  AND  PAIN.  341 

In  a  state  of  decay  the  vital  functions  are  abating. 
The  lower  the  vital  functions  become,  the  less  pleasur- 
able excitement,  but  at  the  same  time  the  less  pain 
will  be  possible.  Decay  far  from  being  identical  with 
pain  is  the  annihilation  of  the  possibility  of  pain. 

Pain  is  caused  through  perturbation.  The  more 
violent  perturbations  are,  the  stronger  the  pain  will 
be.  There  are  wholesome  and  disastrous  disturb- 
ances. Among  the  wholesome  disturbances  we  count 
not  only  those  which  arise  from  growth,  but  also 
such  as  arouse  our  energies  and  indirectly  promote 
our  general  welfare,  disastrous  are  such  as  lead  direct- 
ly or  indirectly  to  destruction. 

Decay  is  often  accompanied  with  great  suffering, 
but  the  suffering  is  apparently  not  due  to  the  decay  it- 
self, but  to  the  struggle  of  the  animal  vitality  in  order 
to  overcome  the  decay.  The  agonies  of  death  are  not 
caused  by  death  but  by  life's  resistance  to  death. 
The  agony  is  stronger  in  youths  exuberant  with  vigor- 
ous health,  than  in  old  men  whose  vitality  is  low. 

Pleasure  and  pain  are  generally  conceived  like 
heat  and  cold,*  as  correlatives;  and  in  some  respects 
they  are  counterparts ;  they  are  the  two  extreme  poles 
of  our  scul-life.  But  they  are  unlike  heat  and  cold  in 
so  far  as  the  one  is  not  the  same  as  the  other  differing 
only  in  degree. 

Pleasure  is  wrongly  considered  as  active,  pain  as 
passive.  Prof.  Bain  attempts  to  show  that  pleasurable 
emotions  display  "the  general  erection  of  the  body," 
while  pain  "leads  to  the  relaxation  of  all  the  extensor 

eclipsed  by  birth  only— birth  being  growth  beyond  the  limits  of  an  individual. 
Child-bearing  in  itself,  the  growth  of  a  new  being,  is  neither  pleasurable  nor 
painful.  It  often  becomes  painful  by  the  many  disturbances  which  it  is  but  too 
liable  to  cause. 

*  Bain  says:  Yet  pleasure  and  pain  are  as  opposite  as  heat  and  cold. 


342  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

muscles"  which,  he  says,  are  by  far  the  largest.  Yet, 
the  flexors  of  the  hand  which  contract  in  a  fit  of 
anguish,  so  as  to  ball  the  fist,  are  much  stronger  mus- 
cles than  the  extensors,  and  even  if  that  were  not  the 
case,  Prof.  Bain  must  and  does  concede,  that  there  is 
"  still  an  active  prompting  under  pain."  He  cannot, 
as  he  suggests,  confine  this  active  prompting  to  a 
relaxation  of  the  flexor- muscles  alone,  for  the  cry  of  in- 
tense pain  is  to  a  great  extent  executed  by  the  same 
muscles  as  the  shouts  of  gay  hilarity.  Pain  as  well 
as  pleasure  are  states  of  consciousness  that  accompany 
the  reactions  of  the  nervous  system  to  certain  irrita- 
tions. Pain,  it  appears,  is  always  caused  through  a 
disturbance,  (whether  this  disturbance  is  good  or  bad 
is  here  a  secondary  consideration,)  while  pleasure  is 
the  gratification  of  a  want. 

There  is  much  confusion  shown  concerning  the 
nature  of  pleasure  and  pain,  if  the  one  is  called  an 
"accession  of  vital  force,"  the  other  "  a  loss  or  depri- 
vation of  energy."*  The  different  pleasures  may  be 
classed  partly  as  the  accessions,  partly  as  a  spending 
of  vital  force.  Digestion  is  an  accession,  bodily  ex- 
ertion a  deprivation  of  energy.  Both  are  classed  to- 
gether as  the  most  common  pleasures  of  life.  They 
are  pleasures  in  so  far  as  both  are  satisfactions  of 
wants.  A  youth,  who  is  glowing  with  vitality,  has  a 
natural  want  of  bodily  exertion,  and  a  hungry  stomach 
has  a  want  of  food.  Take  away  the  want  and  all  that 
can  be  called  pleasure  in  the  acts  disappears.  It 
ceases  to  be  a  gratification. 

It  is  generally  acknowledged  that  there  are  pains 
which  are  wholesome,  and  pleasures  which  are  disas- 
trous. This  does  not  prove  that  decay  may  sometimes 

*  Sir  Charles  Bell  uses  these  expressions. 


PLEASURE  AND  PAIN.  343 

be  wholesome  and  growth  fatal;  yet  it  proves  that 
some  disturbances  are  good  and  conductive  to  our 
prosperity,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  some  gratifica- 
tions of  certain  wants  will  be  found  to  be  injurious. 

The  gratification  of  natural  wants  cannot,  upon 
the  whole,  be  considered  as  injurious;  although  an 
occasional  lack  of  their  gratification  will  often  under 
favorable  circumstances  lead  to  progress.  Wants 
that  are  not  at  all  or  insufficiently  satisfied,  prompt  the 
inventor  to  invent,  and  the  courageous  to  discover 
new  paths  that  will  in  the  end  make  possible  their 
gratification.  In  the  evolution  of  mankind  and  in  the 
history  of  civilization  this  factor,  perhaps,  has  been 
too  little  recognized.  Ungratified  wants  are  always 
disturbances  in  human  life,  and  the  more  natural  a 
want  is,  the  more  disagreeably  will  the  disturbance 
make  itself  felt.  Every  living  being  has  the  natural 
tendency  to  gratify  its  wants,  and  pleasure  may  be  de- 
fined as  the  feeling  that  naturally  accompanies  the 
gratification  of  wants. 

Now  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  among  the  many 
wants  of  living  beings  there  are  not  only  lower  and 
higher  kinds  of  natural,  but  also  unnatural,  wants.  The 
intensity  of  a  pleasure  does  not  depend  upon  its  being 
of  a  higher  or  lower  kind,  but  exclusively  upon  the 
intensity  of  the  want. 

The  lower  natural  wants  are  called  necessities  of 
life,  and  it  is  noticeable  that  they  cease  to  be  intense 
pleasures,  the  more  their  satisfaction  becomes  ensured. 
The  energy  necessary  for  their  gratification  can  thus  be 
employed  for  the  higher  emotional  and  intellectual 
wants.  Unnatural  wants  are  the  result  of  unnatural 
habits,  but  we  can"  observe  that  their  gratification  is 


344  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

just  in  the  same  measure  as  in  other  cases  pleasurable 
to  the  degree  of  intensity  of  the  want. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  draw  an  exact  line  be- 
tween natural  and  unnatural  wants,  although  there 
are  some  about  which  there  can  be  no  doubt  where  to 
classify  them.  The  truth  is  that  there  is  a  large 
group  of  indifferent  habits  which  are  not  injurious. 
They  may  be  considered  by  one  who  is  accustomed  to 
them,  as  natural,  by  another,  who  has  never  practiced 
them,  as  ridiculously  unnatural.  Thus  the  smoking  of 
a  cigar,  the  drinking  of  a  glass  of  wine,  may  be  to  one 
an  intense  pleasure,  while  to  the  other  it  appears  as 
an  abomination.  The  performance  of  certain  actions 
may  be  an  enjoyment  for  one  and  a  veritable  torture 
to  another.  There  are  men  who  love  their  trades  or 
their  professions,  others  who  abhor  them.  There  are 
women  who  delight  in  attending  to  their  household- 
affairs,  while  others  loathe  the  work. 

Pleasure  and  pain  are  unavoidable  so  long  as  life 
means  growth.  Every  progress  causes  disturbances 
which  must  be  readjusted.  A  state  of  perfect  adap- 
tation, of  which  Mr.  Spencer  speaks,  is  a  dream  which 
is  not  realizable,  unless  we  dam  life's  great  stream  in 
order  to  convert  it  into  a  stagnant  lake.  But  if  we 
succeeded  in  that,  we  would  be  sure  to  produce  worse 
evils  and  more  disagreeable  pains  than  all  the  happi- 
ness would  be  worth,  which  could  possibly  result  from 
such  a  state  of  perfect  adaptation. 

Professor  Bain  says:  "  Inasmuch  as  we  follow 
pleasure  and  avoid  pain,  if  pleasure  were  injurious 
and  pain  wholesome,  we  should  soon  incur  entire 
shipwreck  of  our  vitality,"  but  he  finds  it  necessary  to 
add,  "as  we  often  partially  do,  through  certain  tend- 
encies that  are  exceptional  to  the  general  law."  Do 


PLEASURE  AND  PAIN.  345 

not,  indeed,  most  shipwrecks  in  life  occur  because 
people  indeliberately  follow  pleasure  and  avoid  pain? 
And  is  it  not  for  that  reason  that  we  have  to  preach 
morals  ?  Some  ethical  philosophers  attempt  to  base 
their  morals  upon  the  pursuit  of  pleasure  and  the 
avoidance  of  pain;  but  they  start  from  the  wrong 
supposition  that  pleasure  is  a  furtherance,  and  pain 
an  abatement  of  life.  If  pleasure  and  pain  cannot  be 
considered  as  a  furtherance  and  an  abatement  of  life, 
they  can  still  less  be  identified  with  morality  and  im- 
morality. It  is  true  that  the  performance  of  moral 
acts  should  become  a  want  of  our  nature,  and  in  that 
case  they  would  naturally  become  pleasures  to  us. 
But,  so  long  as  they  are  not  yet  natural  wants,  we 
must,  nevertheless,  follow  the  commands  of  right  con- 
duct. We  certainly  shall  have  a  very  questionable 
guide,  should  we  follow  our  feeling  of  pleasure  and  pain 
in  determining  what  is  right  conduct.  Yet  we  should 
unhesitatingly  obey  the  behests  of  our  conscience,* 
without  regard  to  pleasure  and  pain. 

*  I  here  hesitated  whether  to  use  the  word  "  conscience  "  or  "  reason."  I 
preferred  the  more  popular  expression  "  conscience,"  although  it  is  so  often 
employed  by  modern  theologians  in  a  mystical  sense.  The  Apostle  Paul  cer- 
tainly uses  the  word  in  the  sense  of  "  a  reasoning  upon  right  or  wrong  con- 
duct." Speaking  of  the  conscience  of  the  heathen  he  characterises  it  as 
"their  thoughts,  2,oyiOfJ.ot,  accusing  and  excusing  one  another." 


THE  THREE  PHASES  OF  REFLEX-MOTIONS. 


THE  entire  field  of  the  activity  of  psychic  life,  which 
under  normal  circumstances  can  be  connected  with,  or, 
as  it  were,  illuminated  by,  consciousness,  shows  three 
different  phases  or  stages,  which  like  the  steps  of  a 
ladder  rise  one  above  the  other. 

The  first  and  lowest  stage  is  that  of  simple  reflex- 
motions,  which  are  executed  without  necessarily  enter- 
ing into  consciousness.  Such  reflex-motions  are  many 
kinds  of  muscular  movements,  the  unconscious  facial 
expression  of  emotions,  winking,  sneezing,  coughing, 
sucking,  chewing,  swallowing,  and  vomiting.  These  re- 
flex-motions may,  or  may  not,  be  accompanied  with 
consciousness.  If  we  do  not  direct  our  attention  to  them, 
they,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  may  take  place  uncon- 
sciously upon  the  occurrence  of  the  irritation  by  which 
they  are  provoked,  and  against  which  they  must  be 
considered  as  reactions.  Most  of  these  reflex- motions, 
also,  we  can  bring  about  at  will.  In  that  case  the  mere 
thought  of  them  may  serve  as  an  irritation  to  provoke 
the  reflex-motion.  The  mere  idea  of  the  act  becomes, 
as  it  were,  an  inner  irritant  that  produces  the  reflex- 
motion. 

The  simple  reflex-motions  constitute  what  we  com- 
monly call  'reflex- motions  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the 
word.'  Agreeably  to  their  nature,  they  stand,  as  a 
rule,  below  the  threshold  of  consciousness.  Without 


REFLEX  MOTIONS.  347 

thinking  of  it,  without  being  constantly  aware  or  con- 
scious of  it,  our  heart  beats,  we  breathe  and  wink,  and 
execute  most  complicated  movements.  In  the  adjoined 
diagram  we  represent  a  simple  reflex-motion,  thus  : 

DIAGRAM    OF    SIMPLE    REFLEX-MOTION. 

G.—  Ganglion.  e 

IMN. — Innervation  of  the 

SL— Sensory   Impression.          /  motor  nerve- 


7SAr.—  Irritation  of  the  I    \          MM—  Muscular    motion, 

sensory  nerve. 

The  centres  of  the  simple  reflex-motions,  physiol- 
ogy teaches,  are  situated  in  the  bulb  (niedulla  ob- 
l on  gat  a}. 

We  shall  now  speak  of  the  second  phase. 

Everybody,  perhaps,  is  from  his  own  experience 
acquainted  with  some  phenomenon  in  human  soul-life 
that  might  be  designated  as  '  a  direct  and  simple 
reflex-motion  of  conscious  will.'  This  occurs  in  those 
unusual  or  extraordinary  situations  in  which  prompt 
action  is  demanded,  no  time  being  leftior  deliberation ; 
for  example,  in  the  emergency  of  a  sudden  danger. 
We  assume,  for  instance,  a  father  comes  home  from 
work  and  finds  the  tenement-house  in  which  he  lives, 
on  fire.  From  a  window  he  hears  his  child  crying  for 
help.  Without  stopping  to  think  whether  he  can,  or 
whether  he  cannot,  save  the  life  of  his  boy,  whether 
the  staircase  might  be  wrapped  in  flames,  or  whether 
he  can  reach  the  place  whence  the  cry  proceeds,  he 
rushes  into  the  house  at  the  risk  of  his  own  life. 

This  is  a  reflex-action  that  passes  through  con- 
sciousness, but  the  impulse  to  action  is.  so  overwhelm- 
ingly strong  that  it  gives  no  time  or  opportunity  for 
any  deliberation. 


348  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

Irritations  coming  from  sensory  impressions,  if 
connected  with  consciousness,  in  so  far  as  they  give 
information  through  some  of  the  senses,  are  called 
sensations.  An  innervation  of  motory  nerves  or  the 
initiative  process  of  motions  by  muscular  contraction, 
if  connected  with  consciousness,  is  called  will.  That 
which  causes  a  motor  innervation  accompanied  with 
consciousness  (an  act  of  will),  is  called  motive.  A 
motive  may  be  a  sensation,  it  may  be  also  the  memory 
of,  or  a  thought  abstracted  from,  former  sensations. 
The  word  "motive  "  conveys  the  proper  idea  of  being 
that  which  sets  in  motion.  The  process  of  reflex- 
motion,  if  connected  with  consciousness,  is  called  re- 
flex-action, or  simply  action. 

An  act  that  is  a  simple  reflex- motion  of  conscious 
will  may  be  a  direct  action  without  deliberation,  be- 
cause of  the  strength  and  urgency  of  the  motive  which 
allows  no  time  for  reflection  ;  such  is  the  case  above  de 
scribed.  But  it  may  arise  from  a  lack  of  intelligence 
also.  Observers  of  animals  know  many  instances 
where  even  higher-organized  beings,  such  as  apes 
and  dogs,  can  speedily  be  provoked  to  actions,  if  only 
the  proper  motives  are  applied. 

./Esop  tells  in  one  of  his  fables  of  a  monkey- show 
in  which  a  spectator  spoiled  the  performance  by  throw- 
ing nuts  among  the  actors.  The  sight  of  the  nuts  so 
strongly  engaged  the  monkeys'  attention  as  to  exclude 
for  the  moment  all  other  motives;  they  forgot  their 
training  and  even  their  master's  whip,  and  fell  into  a 
scramble  over  the  nuts.  Similarly  Reynard  the  Fox, 
in  the  animal  fable,  entices  Bruin  the  Bear  with  a  pro- 
spect of  honey,  and  Puss  the  Cat  with  the  suggestion 
of  mousing,  to  inconsiderate  actions. 


REFLEX  MOTIONS. 


349 


DIAGRAM    OF    SIMPLE    REFLEX    ACTION,    BEING    A    REFLEX-MOTION, 
CONNECTED    WITH    CONSCIOUSNESS. 

SI. — Sensory  impression. 

ISN. — Irritation  of  the  sensory  nerve. 

S. — Sensation. 

ISN. 


IMN. — Innervation  of  the  motor  nerve. 
s/d  OMM  MM. — Muscular  motion. 

In  the  life  of  human  society  simple  reflex-actions 
are  rare,  though  they  may  frequently  be  observed 
among  children,  savages,  idiots,  and  the  so-called 
quick-tempered  people.  In  the  mind  of  an  educated 
man  every  psychical  irritation  that  acts  as  a  motive 
upon  the  will,  before  passing  into  act,  has  to  run 
through  a  shorter  or  longer  process  of  deliberation. 

DIAGRAM    SHOWING    AN    ACT    OF    DELIBERATION. 

SI. — Sensory  impression. 

ISN. — Irritation  of  sensory  nerve. 

S. — Sensation. 

P. — Perception  starting  a  chain  of  deliberation  by 

passing    through   the   memories  M f,  M*, 

M3,  and  ending  in 
PE. — The  plan  of  execution. 

ISN"  — ----- 


IMN. — Innervation  of  the  motor  nerve. 
MM. — Muscular  motion. 

The  memories  of  former  sensations  are,  as  it  were, 
stored  up  in  the  mind  ;  they  make  up  the  stock  of  that 
which  goes  by  the  name  of  experience.  In  so  far  as 
they  are  arranged  in  a  systematic  order,  they  are  called 
intelligence.  The  richer  the  storehouse  of  memories 
is,  and  the  better  they  are  arranged,  or  associated. 


350  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

the  quicker  will  the  old  experiences  be  at  hand  to  in- 
terfere with,  and  perhaps  to  modify,  reflex-actions. 
The  higher  the  intelligence  of  a  creature  is,  the  less 
prone  will  it  be  to  simple  reflex-actions,  and  the 
stronger  will  be  the  power  of  inhibition,  so  as  to  make 
a  process  of  deliberation  possible,  before  the  motive 
passes  into  act.  A  reflex-action  of  this  kind  may  be 
called  an  "  act  of  deliberation." 

These  three  phases  of  reflex-motions  represent  three 
stages  of  a  more  and  more  complicated  activity  of  the 
soul.  The  first  considered  by  itself  has  its  place  below 
the  threshold  of  consciousness,  although  it  may  be 
brought  within  its  sphere  :  it  may  become  conscious. 
The  second  reaches  to  and  stands  upon  the  threshold 
of  consciousness;  the  third  fills  out  the  whole  sphere 
of  consciousness  and  appears  in  orderly  connection 
with  all  the  memories  of  experience. 

* 
*  * 

Nature  in  all  things  proceeds  with  great  economy. 
This  is  particularly  manifest  in  the  function  of  con- 
sciousness. 

We  may  compare  consciousness  to  a  light,  which 
illuminates  certain  activities  of  the  human  soul,  but 
leaves  others  to  be  performed  in  the  gloom  of  uncon- 
sciousness. Consciousness  itself  has  not  the  power  to 
accomplish  a  single  one  of  all  the  activities  which  it 
illuminates.  It  only  accompanies  them  and  sheds 
light  upon  them,  bearing  now  upon  the  one  and  now 
upon  the  other  object  of  attention,  as  they  severally 
appear  at  the  focal  point  of  our  central  soul-life.  If 
but  the  innervation  of  the  respective  fibres  be  accom- 
plished, the  motions  of  our  bodies  and  even  the 
thoughts  of  our  brains  will  take  place  just  as  well 
without  consciousness  as  with  consciousness ;  not 


REFLEX  MOTIONS.  351 

otherwise  than  a  machine,  that  is  set  a-going,  will  work 
in  darkness  as  well  as  in  light. 

If  all  the  activities  that  are  performed  within  our 
body,  or  at  least  all  those  that  take  place  in  the  highest 
and  most  unstable  living  substance — the  nerves  and  the 
brain — were  without  exception  connected  with  con- 
sciousness, what  a  prodigious  chaos  would  our  soul  in 
that  case  exhibit !  In  the  general  turmoil  we  should  not 
find  a  moment  for  deliberation.  In  the  midst  of  so  much 
excitement  and  work,  no  leisure  would  be  afforded  for 
the  selection  of  that  which  at  the  time  is  most  im- 
portant and  most  needed.  The  new  and  extraordinary 
could  not  be  discriminated  from  the  mass  of  ordinary 
events  that  follow  the  settled  course  of  routine.  The 
restriction  of  consciousness  to  a  narrow  field  is,  there- 
fore, a  most  excellent  arrangement.  And  this  arrange- 
ment has  not  the  slightest  disadvantage,  because  the 
limitation  is  not  at  all  stable  ;  on  the  contrary,  con- 
sciousness can  be  quickly  shifted  about,  it  can  at  a 
moment's  notice  be  attached  to  any  kind  of  psychic 
activity,  as  occasion  may  demand. 

When  a  child  is  learning  to  play  on  the  piano,  how 
laboriously  must  he  learn  to  distinguish  every  note  and 
every  key,  and  to  associate  the  notes  with  the  keys 
that  belong  to  them  !  His  consciousness  must  again 
and  again  be  concentrated  upon  the  task  with  the  most 
intense  atten-tion,  and  in  spite  of  all  his  attention,  how 
awkwardly  do  his  hands  blunder  over  the  key-board  ! 
Compare  his  play  to  that  of  an  accomplished  player. 
How  swiftly  and  with  what  unconscious  ease  the  vir- 
tuoso's fingers  glide  across  the  piano  !  The  same 
difference  of  conscious  awkwardness  and  unconscious 
adroitness  is  noticeable  in  all  arts  and  in  all  sciences. 
What  enormous  exertions  of  conscious  thought  the 


352  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

schoolboy  makes  in  his  calculations,  while  the-  mathe- 
matician operates  with  his  formulas  with  unconscious 
certainty,  like  a  machinist  whose  hand  even  in  the  dark 
is  able  to  find  and  to  use  every  screw  and  every  lever 
of  his  engine. 

When  the  mental  activity  of  our  present  conscious- 
ness sinks  down  into  unconsciousness,  all  the  attention 
of  the  mind  that  is  available  can  be  directed  upon 
new  difficulties,  and  thus  our  thoughts  gain  sufficient 
freedom  for  better  and  higher,  or  more  needed,  work. 
When  mental  processes  in  the  sphere  of  intelligence 
have  become  automatic,  we  call  them  acts  of  uncon- 
scious intelligence. 

Unconscious  intelligence  works  more  rapidly  than 
conscious  intelligence,  because  its  mechanism  is  sim- 
pler than  where  the  same  mental  acts  are  accompanied 
with  consciousness.  And  unconscious  intelligence  often 
works  with  more  exactness  than  conscious  intelligence, 
because,  machine  like,  it  works  with  mechanical  accu- 
racy. In  former  times,  so  long  as  thinking  was  identified 
with  consciousness,  unconscious  thought  was  the 
greatest  stumbling-block  of  psychology.  Since  psy- 
chologists have  learned  to  distinguish  between  the  ac- 
tivity of  intelligence  and  that  of  consciousness,  they 
find  no  difficulty  in  the  fact  that  unconscious  thought  is 
possible. 

Lest  the  ideas  '  unconscious  thought '  and  '  uncon- 
scious '  feeling  be  misunderstood,  a  few  words  may  be 
added  on  the  meaning  of  the  word  "consciousness." 
Consciousness  is  that  intensified  and  concentrated  feel- 
ing which  constitutes  the  character  of  the  central  soul. 
Its  condition  is  a  coordination  of  all  the  feelings  into 
a  system  grouping  them,  as  it  were,  all  together  within 
the  circumference  of  a  circle,  in  the  centre  of  which  is 


REFLEX  MOTIONS.  353 

located  the  present  object  of  attention.  There  are 
many  feelings  that  are  too  far  from  the  centre  to  be  singly 
discriminated  ;  they  form  one  indistinct  mass  of  feeling 
concerning  the  general  state  of  the  whole  organism. 
The  German  physiologists  most  appropriately  call  this 
indistinct  mass  of  innumerable  feelings  "  Gemein-ge- 
fuhl";  the  English  language,  wanting  a  good  Saxon  ex- 
pression, had  to  resort  to  the  Greek  word  cosncesthesis. 
We  shall  as  an  equivalent  term  introduce  the  expression 
"general  feeling"  which  appears  to  be  more  congenial 
to  the  spirit  of  the  English  language  and  less  heavy 
than  the  foreign- sounding  ' '  ccenasthesis. "  * 

Unconscious  thought  and  unconscious  feeling  are 
by  no  means  altogether  bare  of  feeling ;  yet  they  are 
called  unconscious,  because,  and  in  so  far  as  these 
thoughts  and  feelings  are  not  discriminated  in  their 
individuality,  they  disappear  among  the  whole  mass  of 
the  general  feeling  and  cannot  therefore  be  remem- 
bered in  their  individuality.  The  concentrated  feeling 
of  the  central  soul  naturally  can  recall  only  those 
thoughts  and  feelings  in  their  clearness  and  distinct- 
ness which  appeared  with  clearness  and  distinctness, 
or  in  other  words  those  which  appeared  in  the  centre 
of  its  system  of  coordination. 

*  The  proper  English  translation  for  "cosnaesthesis,"  (K.CIVO£,  common,  and 
Ola&rjGlf,  feeling,)  the  German  "  Gemein-gefuhl,"  would  perhaps  have  been 
"common  sense,"  or  common  feeling.  The  word  "common,"  however,  has 
acquired  a  specified  meaning  through  the  Scotch  school  of  so-called  "  common- 
sense  philosophers." 


THE  NATURE  OF  THOUGHT. 


BY  thought  is  generally  understood  mind-activity ; 
it  comprehends  all  kinds  of  operations  that  take  place 
among  representative  feelings.  The  prime  condition 
of  thought,  accordingly,  is  a  certain  stock  of  repre- 
sentative feelings.  In  the  adult  man  these  represen- 
tative feelings  are  either  concrete  sense-images  or  ab- 
stract symbols,  ideas,  and  generalizations.* 

Philologists  usually  confine  the  term  thought  to 
operations  with  abstract  symbols  exclusively  ;  and  they 
are  (or  at  least  may  be)  fully  justified  in  so  doing 
with  reference  to  their  special  object  of  investigation. 
The  most  important  symbols  of  abstract  representa- 
tions are  word-symbols  or  names.  Thus  it  is  obvious 
that  the  evolution  of  thought  in  the  narrower  sense  of 
the  term  is  inseparable  from  the  development  of  lan- 
guage. Thought  in  the  narrow  sense  of  the  word  is 
identical  with  abstract  thought ;  as  such  it  is  the  ex- 
clusive property  of  man.  Thought  as  we  understand 
the  term  here,  is  not  limited  to  the  reasoning  of 
speaking  beings.  It  is  the  common  property  of  all 
feeling  beings,  whose  feelings  have  acquired  repre- 
sentative value.  Accordingly,  thought  is  not  possible 
without  feeling.  We  think  in  that  we  are  aware  of 
certain  states  of  ourselves,  in  short  because  we  feel. 

*  Compare  the  second  chapter  of  this  work,  in  which  "The  Origin  of 
Mind  "  is  discussed. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THOUGHT.          355 

The  interaction  among  feelings,  the  comparisons,  com- 
binations, separations,  anticipations,  and  the  calling 
into  play  of  representative  feelings,  the  function  of 
exciting  them  into  activity  from  a  state  of  rest,  con- 
stitute the  nature  of  thought. 

Thought  is  not  feeling,  and  feeling  is  not  thought. 
But  there  is  no  thought  without  feeling.  Any  sense- 
impression  can  stimulate  thought  into  action;  and  the 
action  that  takes  place  among  feelings  is  that  which  we 
understand  by  thought.  For  instance,  I  hear  an  indis- 
tinct ring  of  the  bell,  and  at  once  a  series  of  thoughts 
is  evoked.  The  sensation  just  received  is  compared 
with  the  memories  of  other  rings  ;  an  awakened  memr 
ory  is  a  feeling  also.  The  sound  is  plainly  distin- 
guished from  the  ring  of  the  dinner  bell ;  it  is  recog- 
nized as  that  of  the  door  bell,  and  at  once  other  repre- 
sentative memories  are  called  forth.  With  the  ring 
of  the  door  bell  is  closely  associated  the  idea  that 
somebody  must  be  at  the  door ;  and  this  idea  elicits 
several  long  strings  of  anticipations  :  It  may  be  the 
postman  with  letters  \  from  whom?  How  many  possi- 
bilities crowd  in  !  It  may  be  a  welcome  friend  or  it 
may  be  an  agent  who  will  intrusively  offer  his  goods. 

All  these  operations  are  called  thinking.*  It  is  a 
matter  of  course  that  man's  thought  is  to  a  great 
extent  an  operation  with  names ;  but  it  need  not  be, 
and  indeed  it  is  not  always.  Very  often  it  is  a  pro- 


*  The  limitation  of  the  term  thought  to  abstract  thought,  was  made  by 
Ludwig  Noire,  with  the  avowed  purpose  of  elucidating  the  origin  of  reason — 
viz:  the  ability  of  man  to  form  concepts.  The  animal  brain  is  in  possession 
of  images  only,  and  man  forms  concepts  (this  was  Noire's  answer)  solely 
with  the  help  of  language.  Human  reason,  he  said,  is  language.  Without 
language  man  would  have  no  reason.  Reason  and  language  are  inseparable, 
like  the  soul  of  an  organism  and  the  organized  body  of  a  soul.  Having  an- 
other purpose  in  view,  we  do  not  use  the  term  thought  in  the  limited  sense, 
but  understand  by  it  all  mind-operation. 


356  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

cess  that  calls  into  play  sense-images  only.  Yet  it  is 
characteristic  of  man  that  he  can  put  his  thought  into 
language,  and  not  until  he  has  done  so  can  he  be  said 
to  have  attained  to  a  full  clearness  of  his  thoughts. 

The  ultimate  purpose  of  thought  is  a  proper  reac- 
tion upon  irritations,  and  this  is  attained,  i)  by  render- 
ing distinct  all  the  sense-materials  offered,  and  2)  by 
calling  to  assistance  all  the  memories  pertinent  to  the 
present  situation.  Thus  thought  is  a  process  of  clarify- 
ing or  articulating  dim  feelings  in  order  to  adjust  reflex 
motions  to  special  circumstances,  in  other  words  in  order 
to  change  subsequently  reflex  motions  into  actions. 

The  process  of  thought  as  an  interaction  among 
feelings  takes  place  in  the  very  lowest  animals.  Uni- 
cellular micro-organisms  which  hunt  for  food  have 
certain  dim  feelings  that  represent,  be  it  ever  so 
vaguely,  the  means  of  satisfying  their  hunger.  Re- 
peated experience  makes  these  feelings  more  distinct 
and  changes  them  in  a  further  evolution,  first  into 
clear  sensations,  and  then,  in  man,  into  abstract  con- 
cepts, generalizations,  and  other  abstractions.* 

Under  the  term  feeling  we  comprehend  all  states 
of  awareness,  not  only  sensations,  but  also  abstract 
ideas.  Sensations  are  one  kind  and  abstract  ideas 
another  kind  of  feeling. 

Sensation  is  the  product  of  two  factors  :  the  feeling 
subject  and  the  sensed  object.  Thus  every  sensation 
of  a  feeling  being  has  a  foreign  element  in  it.  Abstract 
ideas  seem  to  be  free  of  this  foreign  element,  and  ab- 
stract thought  appears  as  a  purely  internal  act.  Yet 

*  Generalizations  are,  as  a  rule,  not  distinguished  from  other  abstrac- 
tions. Yet  there  are  very  important  abstractions  which  are  by  no  means 
generalizations.  There  are  abstract  conceptions  which  are  quite  special  and 
concrete  ;  for  instance,  the  path  of  a  comet  represents  an  individual  case.  It 
is  an  abstract  idea,  but  not  a  generalization. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THOUGHT.          557 

it  only  seems  to  be  free  from  this  foreign  element,  for 
in  truth,  it  is  not  free.  It  is  free  in  so  far  only  as  the 
foreign  element  has  in  the  meantime  become  our  own. 
Abstract  ideas  have  been  derived  from  the  memories 
of  sensations,  and  these  memories  are  part  of  our- 
selves. Yet  they  were  imported  into  the  thinking 
subject  by  former  sensations.  That  internal  kind  of 
feeling  which  we  call  abstract  ideas,  would  be  impos- 
sible without  former  sensations  and  their  memories. 

Sensation  possesses  a  distinctness  that  is  lacking  in 
dim  feelings  and  still  more  so  in  mere  sense-impres- 
sions which  have  not  as  yet  acquired  meaning.  The 
distinctness  of  sensations  is  due  to  their  being  a  repeti- 
tion of  a  feeling  perceived  before.  The  oftener  a  feel- 
ing of  the  same  kind  is  repeated,  the  greater  will  be 
its  distinctness.  Its  form  will  appear  more-and  more 
regular.  Thus  distinctness  is  the  recognition  of  regu- 
larity, i.  e.,  of  conformity  to  law.  Similarly  the  articu- 
lation of  speech  and  song  are  due  to  the  regularity, 
and  the  recognition  of  regularity  in  the  production  of 
sound-waves.  We  may,  accordingly,  consider  sensa- 
tion as  the  articulated  feeling  of  specific  sense-impres- 
sions. 


Those  physiological  acts  which  are  perceived  sub- 
jectively as  states  of  consciousness,  or  feelings  (viz., 
sensations  and  abstract  thoughts),  we  shall  now  con- 
sider in  their  mechanical  connection  with  other  phys- 
iological processes,  especially  their  irritations  and  the 
reflex-motions  that  ensue.  We  shall  in  this  connection 
when  treating  of  feelings,  i.  e.,  of  sensations  and  ideas, 
leave  out  of  sight  the  subjective  state  of  awareness, 
and  consider  them  as  objective  processes,  that  take 
place  while  a  feeling  is  perceived  or  an  idea  is  thought. 


358         THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

THE  MECHANISM  OF  THOUGHT. 

Concerning  the  process  of  feeling  in  general  and 
of  articulate  feeling  in  particular,  we  may  state  the 
following  facts : 

1.  Feeling  (i.  e.,  that  physiological  process  which 
subjectively  is  perceived  as  feeling),  is  caused  by  irri- 
tation. 

2.  Feeling  tends  to  motion. 

Feeling  is  a  process  that  takes  place  between  irri- 
tation and  its  reaction.  Irritations  may  be  either  inter- 
nal or  external.  External  irritations  are  impressions 
produced  by  contact  with  the  surrounding  world ;  by 
the  rays  of  light  upon  the  eye,  by  waves  of  sound 
upon  the  ear,  etc.  Internal  irritations  are  such  as 
hunger  and  thirst. 

Living  substance,  being  irritable  and  endowed  with 
memory,  adapts  itself  to  such  conditions  of  contact 
with  surrounding  objects  as  are  often  repeated,  and 
thus  a  regularity  is  produced,  which  by  and  by  leads 
to  distinctness.  Living  matter  in  its  lowest  forms  is 
irritable  throughout.  Very  soon,  however,  irritability 
is  specialized  as  feeling  in  the  sensory  nerve-cells  and 
eventually  mounts  to  a  clearness  which  is  called  con- 
sciousness. The  highest  form  of  feeling  is  attained 
when  it  appears  in  distinctly  articulated  speech.  The 
operations  of  these  articulated  feelings  are  rational  or 
human  thought. 

What  is  stated  for  feeling  in  general  holds  good 
for  thought  also  : 

1.  The  process  of  thinking  is  directly  or  indirectly 
caused  by  irritations;  and 

2.  It  ultimately  results  in  motion. 

The  tendency  of  thought  to  pass  into  motion  is  called 


THE  NATURE  OP  THOUGHT.  359 

will.  Will,  as  all  tendency  to  motion,  must  have  a 
direction  or  an  aim.  The  aim  of  will  is  called  purpose. 
The  motion  produced  by  will  is  called  action. 

Thought  need  not  directly  originate  from  irrita- 
tions, it  may  proceed  from  the  memories  of  former  irri- 
tations. Irritations  certainly  remain  its  ultimate  foun- 
dation, and  the  substance  of  all  thought  throughout 
exists  only  because  irritations  have  been  previously 
received.  The  most  abstract  thought,  our  conception 
of  form,  and  with  it  all  purely  formal  sciences,  even 
erroneous  thought,  the  shadowy  chimeras  of  the  mind, 
have  all  ultimately  originated  from  feeling  of  some 
kind.  We  arrived  there  through  some  process  of  ab- 
straction. In  this  respect  the  old  dictum  of  the 
schoolmen  remains  true  forever  :  Nihil  est  in  intel- 
lectu  quod  non  antea  fuerit  in  sensu.  Nothing  is  in 
our  mind  which  has  not  been  before  in  our  senses. 
Certain  feelings  correspond  to  certain  contacts.  They 
thus  become  representatives  first  of  the  contacts,  then 
of  the  objects  themselves  which  cause  the  contact. 
Thus  living  creatures  acquire  a  possibility  of  depict- 
ing their  surroundings  in  their  own  substance.  They 
can  in  their  feelings  map  out  the  world  in  which  they 
live.  The  different  feelings  become  so  many  images 
of  the  objects  to  which  they  correspond.  Not  only 
the  things  of  the  outside  world,  in  their  effects  upon 
ourselves,  but  also  the  movements  of  our  members  in 
their  actions  upon  things  external  are  portrayed  in  the 
feeling  nerve-substance.  Both  together  furnish  all 
the  data  for  our  knowledge  of  the  world. 

Cognition,  accordingly,  may  be  characterized  as  a 
process  of  orientation  in  the  world.  The  macrocosm 
outside  is  depicted  in  the  microcosm  within,  and  the 


360  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

more  correctly  the  latter  represents  the  former,  the 
nearer  it  is  to  truth. 

Our  next  statement  derived  from  these  considera- 
tions we  formulate  as  follows  :  Feeling,  and  more  so 

3.  Thinking  is  a  representative  process. 

The  process  of  orientation  is  of  greatest  importance 
to  living  beings,  because  it  facilitates  adaptation  to 
their  surroundings.  They  can  pre-arrange  certain  adap- 
tations in  their  thoughts  ;  they  can  make  plans  of  their 
movements  before  the  execution  of  the  movements 
takes  place. 

4.  The  mechanism  of  thinking  consists  in  combining, 
in  separating,  and  re-combining  the  representative  im- 
ages or  symbols. 

Thinking  is  an  inner  experimentation  with  images 
and  symbols  of  things,  to  the  end  of  deciding,  how 
an  intended  action  (the  reaction  against  the  irritation) 
shall  take  place.  Thus  it  becomes  a  great  saving  in 
the  economy  of  animal  activity.  Instead  of  trying  all 
possibilities  in  reality,  until  one  is  found  that  is  best 
suited  to  the  occasion,  the  images  of  things,  obtained 
through  the  feelings  of  previous  experiences,  are  as- 
sociated and  disassociated  within  the  brain,  until  there 
results  the  desired  combination,  which  thereupon  is 
executed.  Then  the  purpose  of  thinking  is  attained  ; 
it  ends  in  a  reflex  action  against  irritations. 

Students,  as  a  rule,  are  confined  to  their  study. 
They  represent  the  brain  of  a  community  and  may  be 
considered  as  the  specialized  organ  of  thought  in  man- 
kind. It  is  natural,  perhaps,  that  students  and  thinkers 
should  often  imagine  that  thinking  exists  for  its  own 
sake.  Their  opinion  is  repeated  by  those  who  may  be 
called  the  dilettanti  in  the  art  of  thought,  and  thus  it 


THE  NATURE  OF  THOUGHT.  361 

happens  to  be  a  fashionable  dogma  of  the  time.  Never- 
theless it  is  an  error. 

5 .  The  purpose  of  thinking  is  adaptation  to  surround- 
ing conditions. 

Thought,  you  may  object,  sometimes  does  not  end 
in  action,  but  in  the  suppression  of  action.  Inhibition, 
however,  is  an  action  also.  Thought  should  always  end 
in  the  regulation  or  adjustment  of  our  behavior  toward 
our  surroundings.  If  it  does  not,  it  is  not  the  right  kind 
of  thought.  Thought  for  its  own  sake  is  a  disease.  If 
muscles  contract  neither  for  a  special  purpose  nor 
for  the  general  purpose  of  exercise,  we  call  the  con- 
traction a  cramp.  Thought  for  its  own  sake  is  a 
spasm  of  the  brain. 

Abstract  thought  is  a  still  greater  economy  than 
thinking  in  concrete  images,  because  it  introduces 
the  principle  of  economy  into  thought  itself.*  Images 
of  single  objects  are  substituted  by  more  comprehen- 
sive symbols  which  find  their  best  expressions  in 
words,  and  one  word-symbol  represents  many  images. 
In  this  manner  the  representative  process  is  enhanced. 
Words  become  representations  of  representations,  and 
each  further  advance  of  human  intelligence,  as  Ernst 
Mach  has  pointed  out,  will  be  characterized  in  some 
way  as  an  "Economy  of  Thought." 

Higher  thinking,  (thinking,  na^  £<*;oj7/F,)  as  we  find 
it  in  the  human  brain,  is  called  abstract  thought,  be- 
cause it  is  conditioned  by  abstraction.  Particular 
qualities  that  are  common  to  several  things,  are  men- 
tally severed  from  the  images  of  these  things,  and  then 
combined  into  a  new  unity  by  a  special  symbol.  The 
most  natural  symbols  being  words  (in  so  far  as  they 

*  Economy  of  thought  does  not  mean  that  we  should  think  less  but  that 
thought  should  become  more  effective.  By  economy  we  are  enabled  with  the 
same  amount  of  thought  to  accomplish  more  work. 


362  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

are  most  easily  communicated),  language  is  the  means 
by  which  abstract  thought  becomes  possible.  Noire 
said:  "Man  thinks  because  he  speaks,"/.  <?.,  man 
thinks  "in  abstracts,"  because  within  his  mind  notions 
of  abstract  qualities  by  means  of  word-symbols  have 
been  combined  into  unities. 

Still,  in  a  different  sense  the  inverse  is  also  true  : 
"Man  speaks  because  he  thinks."  In  this  case  think- 
ing is  employed  in  its  broader  sense.  Man  has  learned 
to  speak  because  his  mind  was  filled  with  images,  of 
which  a  great  many  similar  ones  naturally  tended  to 
combine.  In  the  broader  sense  of  the  word  all  animals 
may  be  said  to  think ;  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  term, 
man  alone  thinks. 


THE  RISE  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS. 


WE  CALL  consciousness  intensified  feeling.  Con- 
sciousness can  only  have  arisen  from  feeling  through 
an  inhibition  of  reflex  motion.  It  is,  undoubtedly,  the 
failure  of  the  purpose  of  reflex  motion  to  which  living 
substance  owes  its  higher  development.  If  all  reflex 
motions  that  react  against  irritations,  had  always  an- 
swered their  purpose,  there  never  would  have  been  a 
need  of  consciousness  and  the  animal  world  would  lead 
an  unconscious,  purely  instinctive  life  not  very  much 
different  from  that  of  plants.  Animal  life  would  only 
consist  in  the  performance  of  simple  reflex  motions. 

Let  us  suppose  that  the  reflex  motion  of  coughing 
in  a  patient  were  attended  with  pain,  by  which  the  ir- 
ritation in  the  throat  would  rather  be  aggravated  than 
relieved,  would  not,  as  a  rule,  the  patient  seek  to  re- 
strain the  cough,  and  would  he  not,  by  and  by,  attain 
a  point  where  the  reflex-ganglion  would  resist  the  irri- 
tation and  suppress  the  reflex-motion  even  in  sleep  ? 

Dr.  Mcebius,*  professor  of  zoology  at  the  university 
of  Kiel,  relates  an  interesting  experiment  performed  by 
Mr.  Amtsberg,  of  Stralsund. 

' '  A  pike,  who  swallowed  all  small  fishes  which  were  put  into 
his  aquarium,  was  separated  from  them  by  a  pane  of  glass,  so  that, 
whenever  he  tried  to  pounce  on  them,  he  struck  his  gills  against 

*  Schriften  des  Naturwissenshaftlichen  Vereins  von  Schleswig-Holstein  ; 
quoted  from  Prof.  Max  Muller:  "The  Science  of  Thought,"  Vol.  I,  p.  10. 


364  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

the  glass,  and  sometimes  so  violently  that  he  remained  lying  on 
his  back,  like  dead.  He  recovered,  however,  and  repeated  his  on- 
slaughts, till  they  became  rarer  and  rarer,  and  at  last,  after  three 
months,  ceased  altogether.  After  having  been  in  solitary  con- 
finement for  six  months,  the  pane  of  glass  was  removed  from  the 
aquarium,  so  that  the  pike  could  again  roam  about  freely  among 
the  other  fishes.  He  at  once  swam  towards  them,  but  he  never 
touched  any  one  of  them,  but  always  halted  at  a  respectful  dis- 
tance of  about  an  inch,  and  was  satisfied  to  share  with  the  rest  the 
meat  that  was  thrown  into  the  aquarium.  He  had  therefore  been 
trained  so  as  not  to  attack  the  other  fishes  which  he  knew  as  in- 
habitants of  the  same  tank.  As  soon,  however,  as  a  strange  fish 
was  thrown  into  the  aquarium,  the  pike  in  nowise  respected  him, 
but  swallowed  him  at  once.  After  he  had  done  this  forty  times, 
all  the  time  respecting  the  old  companions  of  his  imprisonment,  he 
had  to  be  removed  from  the  aquarium  on  account  of  his  large  size. 
"  The  training  of  this  pike  was  not,  therefore,  based  on  judg- 
ment ;  it  consisted  only  in  the  establishment  of  a  certain  direction 
of  will,  in  consequence  of  uniformly  recurrent  sensuous  impres- 
sions. The  merciful  treatment  of  the  fishes  which  were  familiar 
to  him,  or,  as  some  would  say,  which  he  knew,  shows  only  that 
the  pike  acted  without  reflection.  Their  view  provoked  in  him, 
no  doubt,  the  natural  desire  to  swallow  them,  but  it  evoked  at  the 
same  time  the  recollection  of  the  pain  he  had  suffered  on  their  ac- 
count, and  the  sad  impression  that  it  was  impossible  to  reach  the 
prey  which  he  so  much  desired.  These  impressions  acquired  a 
greater  power  than  his  voracious  instinct,  and  repressed  it,  at  least 
for  a  time.  The  same  sensuous  impression,  proceeding  from  the 
same  fishes,  was  always  in  his  soul  the  beginning  of  the  same 
series  of  psychic  acts.  He  could  not  help  repeating  this  series, 
like  a  machine,  but  like  a  machine  with  a  soul,  which  has  this  ad- 
vantage over  mechanical  machines,  that  it  can  adapt  its  work  to 
unforeseen  circumstances,  while  a  mechanical  machine  cannot. 
The  pane  of  glass  was  to  the  organism  of  the  pike  one  of  these  un- 
foreseen circumstances." 

Deliberation  before  action  and  with  it  all  higher 
kind  of  thought  becomes  possible  only  through  an 
inhibition  of  reflex  action.  The  tendency  to  act  still 
continues,  even  if  action  itself  is  inhibited.  The  desire 


THE  RISE  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.         365 

to  do  a  certain  thing  and  the  memory  of  pain  or  dis- 
appointment that  inhibits  it,  come  into  conflict  and  a 
struggle  between  them  results,  that  will  either  lead  to 
the  entire  suppression  of  the  intended  act  or  it  will 
bring  about  an  adaptation  to  circumstances.  If  the 
latter  takes  place,  the  tendency  to  act  has  gained  the 
upper  hand  over  inhibition,  nevertheless  the  resultant 
is  different  from  what  it  would  have  been  as  a  simple 
reflex  motion  without  having  passed  through  the  pro- 
cess of  deliberation.  It  is  modified  and  most  likely 
better  suited  to  the  circumstances. 

One  of  the  most  important  tasks  of  education  is  that 
of  accustoming  youth  to  self-discipline.  The  will  need 
not  and  must  not  be  suppressed  or  even  weakened, 
but  there  must  be  developed  a  still  stronger  power  of 
control  which,  if  it  be  necessary,  will  inhibit  impulses 
of  the  will  or,  at  least,  prevent  them  from  passing  into 
action  before  they  have  been  submitted  to  a  thorough 
critical  examination.  This  scrutiny  consists  in  com- 
paring all  the  resultant  consequences  of  the  intended 
act  with  the  memories  of  similar' cases,  be  they  of  one's 
own  experience  or  implanted  in  the  mind  through  in- 
formation from  other  sources. 

Men,  in  whom  this  process  takes  place,  are  not  so 
easily  decoyed  into  actions,  which  later  on  they  must 
repent.  Such  a  self-control  makes  it  possible,  that  not 
only  the  desire  which  at  the  time  excites  us  will  be 
decisive,  but  all  the  other  ideas,  the  memories  and  im- 
ages that  live  in  our  mind,  will  also  have  an  influence 
upon  the  final  decision.  If  impulses  are  thus  controlled, 
we  behold,  as  it  were,  an  orderly  meeting,  called  to 
order  by  a  presiding  officer,  who  by  turns  grants  the 
word  to  each  and  all  present,  who  might  have  anything 
to  say  concerning  the  matter  under  discussion.  The 


366  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

meeting  consists  of  our  own  ideas,  our  hopes,  our 
wishes,  our  longings,  and  aspirations,  while  the  presid- 
ing officer  is  represented  by  our  power  of  self-control. 
The  mind  of  a  man  who  is  exclusively  swayed  by  the 
influence  of  the  moment,  who  easily  yields  to  the  pres- 
ent impulse,  resembles  the  gathering  of  a  mob  where 
the  most  impetuous  talker  is  always  the  leader.  The 
sudden  impulses  of  the  will  are  then  executed  before 
the  other  side  of  the  question  can  be  heard.  Such  a 
man  is  limited  to  the  situation  of  the  moment ;  he  be- 
comes a  sport  of  circumstances  and  a  slave  to  his  own 
passions.  Moral  freedom,  that  higher  condition  in 
which  all  ideas  of  our  mind  enjoy  equal  rights  and 
perfect  liberty,  is  possible  only  by  an  inhibition  of 
action  through  self -control.* 

The  inhibition  of  a  reflex  motion  does  not  annihilate 
the  suppressed  irritation ;  it  makes  it  even  more  in- 
tense. A  suppressed  sneeze  thus  can  provoke  a  very 
disagreeable  sensation.  In  certain  circles,  where  eti- 
quette banishes  sneezing  as  a  breach  of  manners,  people 
have  discovered  a  means  of  suppressing  the  irritation 
by  the  aid  of  a  counter-irritation.  They  press  the 
bridge  of  the  nose  between  the  eyes,  and  by  this  sim- 
ple method  they  free  themselves  from  the  tickling  ir- 
ritation that  causes  sneezing. 

This  will  do  for  the  suppression  of  a  sneeze,  but 
it  is  a  different  matter  when  the  irritation  appears  in 
the  form  of  hunger,  which,  if  not  satisfied,  will  keep 
increasing.  It  will  again  and  again  start  a  pro- 
cess of  deliberation  and  consider  every  circumstance 
that  may  be  turned  to  advantage.  Hence  the  proverb 
says,  that  hunger  sharpens  the  wit. 

*  For  the  treatment  of  the  problem  of  Free  will,  see  "Fundamental  Prob- 
lems, 'Mp.  191,  et  seqq.  and  pp.  389-397  of  this  book. 


THE  RISE  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.         367 

If  the  necessities  of  life  cannot  directly  be  satisfied, 
they  must  be  indirectly.  If  their  end  is  not  im- 
mediately attainable,  means  must  be  invented,  which 
on  a  longer,  yet  on  a  better  and  safer,  way  will  after  all 
accomplish  the  end.  And  the  means  that  had  to  be 
inserted  between  a  will  and  its  end  cu:  purpose,  made 
thinking  necessary.  Deliberation  was  wanted  in  order 
to  introduce  the  means  to  the  end,  and  thus  it  is  want 
that  produced  in  living  creatures  the  development 
and  further  perfectionment  of  thought. 

The  strong  impulse  of  self-preservation,  and  the 
impossibility  of  directly  satisfying  this  craving,  com- 
pel organized  substance  to  rise  from  the  lower  state  of 
a  dim  feeling  to  that  of  clear  consciousness.  Want  is 
an  inner  irritation  that  can  produce  the  most  terrible 
pain  and  bring  man  to  the  verge  of  despair.  Like  the 
Sphinx  of  CEdippus,  it  cruelly  sacrifices  innumerable 
beings  and  thus  sternly  demands  the  solution  of  prob- 
lems that  will  and  must  be  solved  under  penalty  of 
painful  perdition.  Thus  guides  the  fear  of  death  to  a 
higher  stage  of  life.  But  it  guides  only  the  courageous 
thinker,  the  CEdippus  who  by  the  power  of  thought  is 
the  victor  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  The  faculty 
of  thinking,  and  with  it  the  clearness  of  conscious 
thought,  has  been  forced  upon  us. 

We  learn  from  these  facts  that  the  philosophy  of 
Deism  which  prevailed  among  liberals  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  and  is  still  in  vogue  to-day  is  an  erron- 
eous notion  of  God.  The  divinity  that  shapes  our 
ends,  the  all-life  that  manifests  itself  in  nature,  is  of  a 
different  kind  than  the  deists  imagined*  The  deists 
regarded  God  as  an  all  loving,  benevolent  father, 
whose  purpose  was  the  happiness  of  his  creatures; 
God's  good  intentions,  however,  were  too  often  frus- 


368  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

trated  through  the  malevolence  and  ignorance  of  men. 
In  contrast  to  this  view,  it  must  be  admitted,  that 
the  old  orthodox  conception  of  God  is  far  more  correct. 
The  God  of  the  Bible  is  free  from  the  philanthropic 
sentimentality  of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  agrees 
better  with  positive  facts.  The  God  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment is  a  stern  master,  who  through  servitude  guides  to 
freedom,  and  after  visitations  dispenses  his  blessings. 

It  must  strongly  be  doubted,  whether  men  amidst 
mere  enjoyments,  living  in  a  state  of  constant  happi- 
ness, would  ever  advance.  Man  received  into  his 
household  certain  animals,  as  sheep  and  oxen,  and 
took  good  care  of  them.  Their  lot  must  now  appear  as 
more  desirable  than  that  of  their  previous  state  of  free- 
dom ;  they  are  unacquainted  with  the  hard  struggle  for 
existence,  and  upon  their  verdant  pastures  they  have 
no  evil  foreboding  of  their  imminent  death.  And  even 
death  itself,  if  they  are  destined  for  meat,  is  inflicted 
in  the  least  painful  manner. 

If  anywhere  among  living  creatures  there  has  been 
realized  the  ideal  picture  of  undisturbed  happiness; 
and  of  a  pure  enjoyment  of  life,  it  certainly  is  to  be 
found  among  the  herds  on  our  cattle-farms.  Yet,  at 
what  a  price  !  While  the  wild  sheep  and  the  wild  bull 
are  eminently  distinguished  from  other  animals  by 
their  intelligence,  domestic  sheep  and  oxen  under  the 
care  of  man  have  to  such  an  extent  become  obtuse, 
that  their  very  names  have  strikingly  become  the  sym- 
bols of  irredeemable  stupidity. 

The  real  God,  who  rules  supreme  in  the  evolution 
of  cosmic  life,  is  free  from  all  sentimentality.  He  may 
certainly  appear  cruel  in  comparison  with  the  ideal 
of  a  fatherly  and  philanthropic  grandsire.  He  rather 
resembles  a  stern  father,  who  does  not,  in  a  weak 


THE  RISE  OF  CONSCIOUSNESS.         369 

good-naturedness  spoil  his  children,  but  educates  them 
now  with  severity,  now  with  kindness,  in  order  to 
develop  their  powers.  The  history  of  evolution  proves 
that  he  does  not  intend  to  bring  up  faint-hearted,  sen- 
timental children  of  happiness ;  he  wants  his  sons  to  be 
intellectually  and  physically  self-reliant,  reared  in  the 
bracing  atmosphere  of  freedom. 


THE  LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  SENSES. 


ONE  of  the  strongest  arguments  in  favor  of  agnosti- 
cism is  based  upon  the  same  principle  as  that  upon 
which  positivism  stands.  We  recognize  that  the  ulti- 
mate data  of  experience  and  the  basis  of  all  knowl- 
edge are  sensations.  Sensations  naturally  depend 
upon  the  character  of  the  senses  ;  and  the  senses  of 
man — indeed  those  of  every  possible  living  being — are 
adapted  according  to  circumstances  to  special  sensa- 
tions only.  "Now  it  is  evident,"  the  agnostic  de- 
clares, "that  our  knowledge  is  limited  to  those  natu- 
ral processes  which  can  affect  our  senses  ;  yet  it 
is  precluded  from  all  the  rest.  That  which  cannot  af- 
fect our  senses  will  forever  remain  unknown  to  us. 
It  is  unknowable.  " 

The  fallacy  of  this  syllogism  is  apparent  and  can 
be  pointed  out  by  the  mere  statement  of  innumerable 
discoveries  concerning  such  natural  processes  as  do 
not  affect  our  senses.  The  truth  is  that  man's  knowl- 
edge is  not  at  all  limited  to  his  own  direct  sensations. 
By  the  power  of  his  mind  through  reflection  he  can, 
and  he  constantly  does,  transcend  that  narrow  sphere, 
and  he  gathers  new  material  for  his  experience  through 
indirect  observations. 

The  senses  are  affected  indirectly,  if  a  thing  is  per- 
ceived by  its  effects  upon  other  things.  We  lack  for 
instance  an  organ  to  perceive  the  chemical  rays  of 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  SENSES.         371 

light.  They  have  no  perceptible  effect  upon  our  eye. 
Nevertheless  we  can  indirectly  be  affected  by  them 
when  we  observe  their  effects  upon  the  photographer's 
sensitive  plate.  Thus  we  bring"  a  process  that  does 
not  affect  our  senses  within  their  range  through 
indirect  observation. 

There  are  innumerable  examples  of  a  similar  kind, 
and  the  assertion  that  a  certain  thing,  this  or  that  nat- 
ural phenomenon,  is  unknowable  has  by  the  progress 
of  science  again  and  again  been  refuted. 

Let  me  cite  one  instance  only  from  the  later  his- 
tory of  science.  Auguste  Comte  who,  under  the 
inappropriate  name  of  positivism,  some  time  before 
the  invention  of  the  word  agnosticism,  propounded 
and  defended  the  agnostic  idea  of  the  Unknowable, 
declared  that  certain  things  must  necessarily  remain 
forever  hidden  from  the  knowledge  of  man,  and  he 
selected  as  an  illustration  that  we  could  never  know  the 
chemical  composition  of  the  stars.  Comte's  assertion 
appeared  very  plausible  ;  the  limitation  of  our  knowl- 
edge in  that  line  seemed  to  be  beyond  the  shadow  of 
a  doubt.  For  there  is  no  possibility  of  a  chemist's 
ever_getting  a  piece  of,  or  taking  a  trip  to,  Sirius  or  to 
any  other  one  of  the  stars.  And  yet  such  is  the 
interconnection  of  all  processes  in  the  universe,  that 
means  were  discovered  to  state  most  positively  of 
what  materials  the  stars  consist.  It  was  a  strange 
irony  of  fate  that  while  Comte  was  publishing  his  as- 
sertion of  the  agnostic  view,  two  German  scholars 
were  analyzing  the  rays  of  the  sun  and  the  stars  by  a 
new  method  called  spectrum  analysis,  which  in  ex- 
actitude rather  surpasses  the  cruder  method  of  an 
analysis  in  the  crucible.  It  is  true  that  our  chemists 
cannot  journey  to  the  stars,  but  the  light  of  the  stars 


372  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

travels  to  us  and  gives  us  information  concerning  the 
substances  of  which  they  consist. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  world  which  does  not  pro- 
duce some  effect  upon  something.  Imagine  that  a 
certain  something  existed  that  did  not  in  any  way 
whatever  make  its  existence  manifest — could  it  be 
said  to  exist  ?  I  think  not.  The  existence  of  a  thing 
and  its  manifestations  are  identical.  The  existence  of 
a  thing,  be  it  ever  so  insignificant,  is  real  only  by 
manifesting  its  existence  through  certain  effects.  The 
quality  of  producing  effects  is  its  reality. 

We  may  fairly  suppose  that  there  are  many  things 
in  the  world  which  have  never  as  yet  either  directly 
or  indirectly  affected  us  in  a  manner  to  make  their 
reality  known  to  us.  Yet  all  things  in  the  world  be- 
ing interconnected,  there  is  always  the  possibility  that 
their  effects  can  somehow  be  brought  to  bear  upon 
our  faculty  of  observation.  Whatever  exists  is  in  so 
far  as  it  is  real,  knowable.  There  are  certain  things 
which  from  a  certain  standpoint  are  unknowable,  as 
objects  may  from  a  certain  point  of  view  become  in- 
visible. A  tree  behind  a  house  may  be  invisible  to 
to  me  but  it  is  not  invisible  in  itself.  The  Copernican 
conception  of  the  solar  system  may  be  incomprehensi- 
ble to  a  savage,  yet  it  is  not  incomprehensible  per  se. 
Incomprehensibility  is  not  a  quality  of  things,  not  a 
peculiar  feature  of  all  or  of  certain  natural  processes, 
it  does  not  attach  to,  it  is  not  a  quality  of,  the  reality 
of  objects. 

If  things  or  natural  processes  appear  to  us  as  in- 
comprehensible, the  fault  is  not  theirs  but  ours.  If 
the  whole  world  is  incomprehensible  to  us,  it  is  no 
proof  that  the  world  possesses  the  quality  of  being  un- 
knowable, but  because  we  lack  the  quality  of  compre- 


LIMITATIONS  OF  THE  SENSES.         373 

bending  it;  we  ourselves  in  that  case,  are  wanting  in 
strength  to  formulate  a  unitary  conception  of  all  the 
natural  phenomena  which  come  within  the  reach 
of  our  observation. 

Sensations  are  the  effects  of  surrounding  objects 
upon  a  sentient  being.  Sensations  are  the  ultimate 
basis  of  all  knowledge ;  they  are  the  data  of  expe- 
rience. 

The  duty  of  the  scientist  is  to  describe  the  facts  of 
natural  processes  in  such  a  way  as  to  show  their  reg- 
ularity ;  and  the  duty  of  the  philosopher  is  to  arrange 
all  knowledge  into  one  harmonious  system  which  shall 
be  a  unitary  conception  of  the  world.  Man  must 
have  a  conception  of  the  world  not  only  because  it  be- 
hooves him  as  a  thinking  being  to  have  such  a  con- 
ception, and  because  the  demands  of  his  mind  have  to 
be  satisfied,  but  also  because  he  is  in  want  of  a  foun- 
dation for  his  conduct  in  life.  Brutes  follow  their  im- 
pulses, but  man  is — or  ought  to  be — a  moral  being ; 
he  can  regulate  his  actions  according  to  certain  max- 
ims ;  and  the  maxims  of  individuals  as  well  as  of 
nations  depend  upon,  they  are  derived  from,  their  re- 
spective conceptions  of  the  world.  The  various  phi- 
losophies of  al-1  times  and  peoples  find  a  practical  ex- 
pression in  their  ethics. 


THE  BASIS  OF  A  POSITIVE  PHILOSOPHY. 


THE  main  error  of  metaphysicism  is  the  vicious 
habit  of  metaphysical  philosophers  to  start  with  postu- 
lates. They  take  a  very  broad  abstract  idea,  such  as 
the  "Absolute,"  or  "Being,"  or  "Deity,"  or  "God," 
or  "the  Infinite,"  and  consider  it  an  actual  reality. 
Upon  this  abstract  idea  they  build  with  more  or  less 
ability  and  boldness  a  complete  system  of  other  ab- 
stract ideas,  and  when  it  is  finished  they  call  it  a  phi- 
losophy. As  a  matter  of  course  every  philosopher 
builds  a  philosophy  of  his  own.  Why  should  he  not  ? 
The  building-material  of  castles-of-air  is  inexpensive — 
extremely  inexpensive ! 

Many  sensible  people  have  turned  their  backs  upon 
philosophy  because  they  have  discovered  the  hollow- 
ness  of  purely  abstract  reasoning,  which  is  to  no  prac- 
tical purpose  in  real  life.  Yet  there  is  another  view  of 
philosophy,  which  in  contradistinction, to  metaphysi- 
cism we  call  positivism. 

Positive  philosophy*  rejects  all  kinds  of  postulates 
and  starts  from  the  positive  data  of  experience.  The 
data  of  experience  are  the  several  states  of  our  con- 
sciousness. The  elements  of  our  states  of  conscious- 
ness are  sensory  impressions.  A  sensory  impression 
fully  realized  in  consciousness  is  a  sensation.  Sensa- 
tions become  percepts;  many  percepts  of  the  same 

*For  the  difference  between  Comte's  positivism  and  that  here  proposed 
see  the  author's  "Fundamental  Problems,"  p.  173  and  p.  75,  note. 


POSITIVE  PHILOSOPHY.  375 

kind  become  concepts.  Thus  all  the  objects  of  our 
surroundings  are  mirrored  in  their  relation  toward  us, 
and  among  themselves  in  the  living  substance  of  our 
brain.  From  the  concepts  of  things  abstractions  are 
made;  and  by  the  help  of  our  abstract  thoughts  we  can 
recognize  the  finer  relations  that  interconnect  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature ;  we  can  trace  the  laws  that  govern 
the  changes  of  their  forms. 

Abstract  thought  is  the  instrument  of  science  which 
opens  our  eye  to  a  deeper  comprehension  of  the  facts 
of  nature.  The  relations  that  interconnect  the  phe- 
nomena of  nature,  and  the  laws  that  govern  the  changes 
of  their  forms,  are  not  material  things ;  they  are  not 
concrete  objects  like  tables  and  chairs,  yet  they  are 
nevertheless  realities,  they  are  facts  and  as  such  they 
are  of  great  moment.  The  form  of  a  thing  is  the  most 
important  part  of  it.  The  form  of  a  watch  is  that  which 
makes  it  a  watch.  The  metal  of  which  it  is  wrought 
is  another  and,  truly,  an  indispensable,  part,  yet  the 
metal  is  only  the  material  of  which  the  watch  con- 
sists. *  Similarly  justice  is  an  abstract  idea.  It  desig- 
nates certain  relations  among  men  that  are  of  highest 
importance.  Thus  justice  is  a  reality  in  life,  and  if 
there  were  np  justice  in  our  law  courts,  it  would  still 
be  a  most  powerful  reality,  though  it  existed  merely 
as  an  ideal  in  our  hearts.  And  so  the  relations  among 
things,  as  well  as  persons,  as  in  the  instance  given  of 
justice,  are  realities,  although  we  know  that  they  are 
not  materialities. 

*  There  is  no  mystery  in  the  changes  and  in  the  new  creations  of  form. 
We  may  say  that  the  watch  existed  potentially  even  before  it  was  invented  ; 
thus  the  organized  life  of  organisms  existed  potentially  in  the  non-organized 
substances  before  their  combination.  Yet  there  is  no  necessity,  as  Mr.  Wake 
suggests  in  the  essay,  "God  in  Evolution,"  (Open  Court  p.  1997)  for  resorting  to 
the  supposition  of  a  divine  personality  who  created  and  preconceived  the 
origin  of  organized  life  upon  earth. 


376  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

The  meaning  of  positive  philosophy  is,  that  it  re- 
quires every  idea,  every  concept,  every  abstract  thought 
to  be  legitimatized.  If  ideas  have  not  originated  from 
the  data  of  experience,  if  there  is  no  reality  correspond- 
ing to  them,  they  have  no  right  to  exist ;  and  we  are 
consequently  entitled  to  treat  them  as  mere  illusions. 

One  great  advantage  of  the  positive  method  is  that 
we  can  never  forget,  while  adhering  to  it,  the  origin  of 
abstract  ideas.  Existence,  Cosmical  Being,  the  Infin- 
itude, Gravitation,  Natural  Laws,  Virtue,  God,  etc., 
are  abstracts ;  they  are  symbols  for  certain  generaliza- 
tions and  qualities  of,  or  relations  among,  concrete 
things.  Considered  as  abstracts,  they  are  invaluable 
possessions  of  our  mind ;  considered  as  concrete  things, 
they  lead  to  self-contradictions. 

Metaphysical  philosophers  are  often  awe- stricken 
at  their  inability  to  explain  their  possession  of  ab- 
stract ideas,  and  think  they  have  come  by  them 
through  divine  inspiration.  There  are  not  a  few  who 
expect  to  find  in  reality  some  concrete  thing  that  is 
infinite*  ;  they  enquire  for  the  gravitating  force  behind 
the  falling  stone ;  and  when,  in  their  search,  they  get 
beyond  their  depth,  the  problem  is  declared  insolv- 
able.  Facts  may  be  as  clear  as  a  mountain-brook  ;  they 
step  into  the  brook,  make  its  waters  muddy,  and  then 
declare  that  it  can  never  be  clarified.  It  is  painful  to 
read,  for  instance,  Mr.  Spencer's  expositions  on  mo- 
tion, time,  and  space.  He  confounds  the  issues  of  his 
disquisition,  and  when  he*  arrives  at  the  conclusion 
"all  is  unknowable,"  "all  is  inscrutable,"  he  seems 
not  to  be  aware  of  the  fact,  that  this  result  is  the  re- 
flection of  his  own  confusion. 

*  The  Problem  of  Infinitude  is  discussed  in  "Fundamental  Problems," 
p.  169,  et  seqq. 


POSITIVE  PHILOSOPHY.  377 

We  can  not  consider  as  data  of  experience  every 
assertion  made  by  a  visionary  dreamer.  We  must  sus- 
pect all  assertions  of  so-called  facts  that  stand  in  con- 
tradiction to  other  facts.  The  data  of  experience  are 
such  facts  only  that  under  the  same  conditions  can  be 
ascertained  by  every  one,  and  can  be  re-ascertained 
and  verified  by  experiment. 

Positive  philosophy  seems  to  start  with  a  poor 
capital ;  yet  its  foundation  is  solid,  and  in  former  pub- 
lications* the  author  of  this  book  has  endeavored  to 
develop  some  of  the  spiritual  treasures  which  it  yields. 
We  found  that  neither  religion,  nor  art,  nor  science, 
lost  aught  of  their  dignity  by  being  deprived  of  their 
metaphysical  tinsel  crowns,  which  were  wrongly  deemed 
their  most  valuable  ornaments. 

It  is  commonly  supposed  that  from  the  positive 
view  all  ideals  disappear,  that  all  higher  and  spiritual 
life  vanishes.  This  is  not  so,  and  it  has  been  our 
earnest  endeavor  to  show  that  such  concepts  as  God 
and  Soul,  Morality,  Freedom,  Responsibility,  and  Im- 
mortality, are  deepened  in  their  meaning.  In  so  far  as 
they  are  recognized  as  realities,  they  grow  immensely 
in  importance.  In  positive  philosophy  ethics  finds  for 
the  first  time  a  scientific  basis. 

Positivism  is  that  view  which  is  to  supersede  the 
idealism  as  well  as  the  materialism  of  former  ages ;  for 
it  contains  that  which  is  true  in  both,  avoiding  their 
common  errors.  Positivism  is  the  boldest  and  most 
radical  philosophy  that  has  ever  been  propounded,  yet 
at  the  same  time  it  is  the  only  practical  philosophy. 
From  the  cloud-land  of  metaphysics  it  turns  our  minds 

*  "  Fundamental  Problems,  the  Method  of  Philosophy  as  a  Systematic 
Arrangement  of  Knowledge."  Chicago,  1889.  The  Open  Court  Pub.  Co. 

"The  Idea  of  God."  (A  Pamphlet.)  Second  Edition.  Chicago,  1889. 
The  Open  Court  Pub.  Co. 


378  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

toward  the  duties  of  real  life.  It  is  based  on  facts ; 
and  it  is  a  systematic  arrangement  of  facts.  The  pur- 
pose of  philosophy  will  be  found  in  its  being  a  guide 
for  man's  conduct  in  life  ;  it  becomes  the  basis  of  ethics 
and  is  thus  again  applied  to  facts. 

Positive  philosophy  recognizes  no  revelation,  no 
intuition,  no  mysticism,  no  agnosticism  ;  it  deals  with 
facts  and  with  facts  only.  On  facts  it  builds  its  ideals  ; 
and  its  religion  rests  upon  a  scientific  basis. 

Metaphysicism  is  a  disease  of  philosophy,  and  it  is 
indeed  a  fatal  disease,  for  it  leads  straightway  into  the 
realm  of  the  mystic  Unknowable  where  all  philosophy 
is  at  an  end. 

When  a  metaphysical  philosopher  descends  from 
the  cloud-land  of  metaphysics  toward  earth  in  order  to 
apply  his  postulates  to  the  realities  of  life,  he  becomes 
entangled  into  innumerable  contradictions  wherever 
he  appears  with  his  metaphysical  principles.  But  a 
metaphysical  philosopher  is  never  dismayed.  As  soon 
as  the  public  gets  accustomed  to  the  strange  names 
of  his  metaphysical  principles,  he  calls  them  philo- 
sophical truths  and  declares  them  to  be  absolute. 
From  their  disagreement  with  the  facts  of  reality  he 
concludes  that  they  are  unknowable.  They  are  like 
God  whom  no  one  can  see  and  live.  People  then  bow 
down  in  silent  reverence  and  our  philosopher  returns 
to  the  aerial  heights,  where  he  disappears  glorified  in 
the  celestial  fog  of  mysticism. 

Metaphysicism  is  often  decked  out  with  many  facts 
of  the  natural  sciences.  We  must,  however,  be  severe 
in  drawing  the  color-line  sharply.  The  various  meta- 
physical systems  may  be  different  in  style  and  gran- 
deur, they  may  be  different  in  name,  and  the  borrowed 
plumage  of  natural  science  may  be  more  or  less  brill- 


POSITIVE  PHILOSOPHY.  379 

iant,  but  in  their  principle  one  is  exactly  like  the  other  ; 
they  are  built  upon  the  foundation  of  mere  abstrac- 
tions to  which  no  reality  corresponds  and  they  end  as 
a  natural  consequence  in  contradictions  which  are  not 
so  much  concealed  as  masked  under  the  pretense  of 
profundity.  The  credulous  multitude  is  told  that  they 
have  got  into  problems  so  deep,  that  they  are  insolv- 
able.  The  contradictions  of  such  systems,  then,  are 
openly  paraded  as  the  Unknowable,  the  Incomprehen- 
sible, the  Inscrutable,  the  Inexplicable,  or  even  the 
Mysterious  and  the  Occult. 

It  is  the  rock  of  positive  facts  on  which  the  proud 
galleys  of  metaphysicism  strike  before  they  sink  into 
the  realm  of  the  Unfathomable.  The  ship  that  there 
founders,  is  irredeemably  wrecked. 


THE  REACTION  AGAINST  MATERIALISM. 


How  DOES  it  happen  that  in  our  days,  among  large 
classes,  not  only  in  America  but  all  over  the  world, 
there  has  set  in  a  tendency  to  Spiritualism  which  man- 
ifests itself  in  many  ways?  A  crude  belief  in  spirits 
and  spiritual  manifestations  exists  ;  mediums  infest  the 
country, -who  communicate  with  the  departed  and  im- 
pose upon  the  credulous  in  many  ways.  New  creeds 
are  preached,  such  as  Christian  Science  and  so-called 
Metaphysics.  Faith-cure  is  practiced,  and  among  the 
societies  for  psychical  research  scattered  throughout 
the  world  there  are  some  that  vie  with  each  other  in 
the  publication  of  incredible  statements  about  telepathy 
and  wonderful  tales  of  second  sight. 

This  movement  may  be  called  a  reaction  against 
materialism.  Mankind,  it  seems,  is  growing  tired  of 
the  crude  materialistic  philosophy  that  came  to  them 
in  the  name  of  science,  and  a  reaction  is  taking  place 
which,  according  to  the  education  of  the  different  peo- 
ple concerned,  assumes  the  shape  of  a  more  or  less  crude 
superstition.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  reaction  is 
strongest  among  the  unchurched,  among  liberals  and 
so-called  freethinkers  ;  it  is  less  marked  among  the 
adherents  of  the  old  creeds,  the  members  of  churches 
and  religious  congregations. 

Science  is  not,  as  is  so  often  claimed,  materialistic  ; 
yet  to  the  unscientific,  to  the  laymen,  who  are  not 


RE  A  CTION  A  GST  MA  TERIALISM.      38 1 

thoroughly  versed  in  its  elementary  truths,  science 
naturally  enough  appears  materialistic.  The  science 
that  is  transplanted  from  the  laboratory  or  the  study 
into  the  streets,  rapidly  ceases  to  be  science.  There 
are  very  few  savants  who  take  the  trouble  to  be  pop- 
ular. Most  of  them  confine  their  publications  to  men  of 
their  own  class,  and  it  is  an  exception  that  now  and 
then  a  scientist  addresses  the  whole  of  civilized  man- 
kind, and  speaks  or  writes  in  a  style  that  can  be  un- 
derstood by  business  people  and  workingmen.  The 
duty  of  popularizing,  to  a  great  extent,  thus  devolves 
upon  men  who  have  not  grasped  the  whole  truth  of 
scientific  discoveries,  and  who  look  at  them  from  the 
outside  only.  They  inform  themselves  about  the 
rigid  formulas,  the  exact  statements  of  laws  by  which 
we  can  predict  the  slightest  details  of  the  movements 
of  molecules  and  atoms.  Perhaps  they  are  also  able  to 
explain  these  formulas,  and  point  out  the  mechanisms 
of  action  discovered  through  scientific  investigation. 
Yet  the  spirit  of  science  escapes  them,  they  overlook 
the  spiritual  that  pervades  the  mechanism.  This  it  is 
that  evoked  the  just  sarcasm  of  Goethe,  who  says  in 
Faust : 

"  He  who  would  study  organic  existence 
First  drives  out  the  soul  with  rigid  persistence, 
Then  the  parts  in  his  hands  he  may  hold  and  class, 
But  the  spiritual  link  is  lost,  alas  ! 
Encheiresin  naturee  this  chemistry  names, 
Nor  knows  how  herself  she  banters  and  blames." 

By  materialism  I  understand  that  view  of  the  world 
which  explains  everything  from  matter,  and  takes  for 
granted  that  material  existence  is  the  only  reality. 
Materialism  overlooks  the  importance  of  the  spiritual 
and  does  not  consider  it  as  a  reality  worth  while  troub- 
ling about.  Spirit  is,  so  materialists  claim,  an  occa- 


382  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

sional  function  of  matter  only,  the  origin  of  which  is 
not  yet  explained,  yet  it  is  certain  that  its  existence  is 
very  fleeting. 

Aprcs  nous  le  deluge  !  was  the  motto  of  the  French 
materialists  of  the  eighteenth  century.  "We  need  not 
trouble,"  they  thought,  " about  our  fate  after  death, 
for  death  is  a  finality ;  death  ends  all.  Therefore,  let 
us  enjoy  the  present,  let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-mor- 
row we  shall  be  no  more.  And  if  a  deluge  is  to  sweep 
over  our  graves,  let  the  deluge  come."  We  need  not 
here  repeat  historical  facts ;  they  are  too  well  known. 
This  view  of  things  induced  the  classes  in  power  to  give 
themselves  up  exclusively  to  the  enjoyment  of  life, 
and  to  oppress  their  fellow-citizens  in  order  to  attain 
the  means  for  their  wasteful  pleasures.  The  deluge 
came  indeed  as  a  natural  consequence  and  swept  away 
with  merciless  justice  the  guilty,  the  frivolous,  and  the 
foolish,  and  together  with  the  guilty  the  innocent  also. 

We  shall  not  dwell  here  on  the  mistakes  that  prac- 
tical materialism  makes  when  as  an  ethical  theory  its 
doctrines  are  applied  to  real  life.  We  shall  limit  our- 
selves to  a  consideration  of  its  theoretical  mistakes 
only.  There  are  plenty  honest  materialists  who  do 
not  see  at  all  the  consequences  to  which  their  doctrines 
naturally  lead,  and  it  would  be  unfair  to  make  them  per- 
sonally answerable  for  results,  and  to  charge  them  with 
having  wilfully  poisoned  the  public  mind.  There  are 
very  few  materialistic  philosophers  who  are  to  be  stigma- 
tized as  frivolous  or  immoral ;  on  the  contrary,  most  of 
them  are  indubitably  honest  men,  whohave  devoted  their 
lives  to  the  search  for  truth  and  who  speak  out  boldly 
that  which  they  regard  as  truth.  They  should  not  be 
blamed  for  that ;  in  that  they  should  be  encouraged, 
for  it  is  only  by  boldly  speaking  out  that  which  we  be- 


RE  A  CTION  A  &ST  MA  TERIALISM.       383 

lieve  to  be  the  truth,  that  truth  can  be  discovered.  Nor 
should  other  thinkers  who  are  of  a  contrary  opinion 
doubt  their  honesty  or  ever  make  insinuations  respect- 
ing their  personal  character,  simply  on  the  ground  that 
their  doctrines  might  in  their  application  lead  in  the 
end  to  immoral  practices  and  thus  undermine  public 
welfare.  The  only  remedy  against  errors  is  to  point 
out  errors  without  personal  malice  or  imputation,  and 
it  is  this  that  we  shall  try  to  do  in  the  case  of  mate- 
rialism. 

Matter  is  an  abstract,  made  in  the  same  way  as  all 
other  abstracts.  Abstraction  is  a  mental  process.  We 
abstract  (we  take  away)  in  our  thoughts  from  a  num- 
ber of  things  certain  properties  which  perhaps  in  reality 
are  inseparably  connected  with  other  properties ;  but 
in  our  thoughts  we  exclude  all  the  other  properties. 
We  need  not  explain  here  the  advantage  of  this  method, 
which  is  undeniable,  for  abstract  thought  is  the  con- 
dition of  all  exact  discriminations,  and  science  would 
be  impossible  without  it.  Matter  is  generally  defined 
as  "anything  which  can  affect  one  or  more  of  our  five 
senses." 

It  is  understood  that  all  other  properties,  such  as 
spirit,  are  excluded  from  the  term  matter.  There  are 
two  properties  which  in  reality  are  always  inseparably 
connected  with  material  things,  yet  in  the  term  "  mat- 
ter" they  are  not  included  ;  viz.,  (i)  motion,  and  (2) 
form.  If  I  speak  of  the  matter  of  an  object,  I  limit  my 
attention  to  the  bodily  particles  of  which  it  consists 
and  take  no  notice  of  their  forms  or  of  the  relations  that 
obtain  among  the  particles,  or  of  their  motions.  It 
is  their  quantity  in  mass,  without  reference  to  any  one 
of  their  many  other  qualities.  I  cannot  in  reality  sep- 
arate matter  from  all  form  or  from  all  motion.  I  can 


384  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

perhaps  impart  to  a  piece  of  matter  more  or  less  mo- 
tion, I  can  destroy  its  present  form.  But  it  is  impos- 
sible to  take  away  every  motion  and  every  form.  There 
is  no  such  a  thing  in  reality  that  would  be  matter  alone : 
abstract  matter,  matter  void  of  all  motion  and 
without  any  shape  or  form.  A  stone  may  be  in  a 
state  of  relative  rest ;  for  instance,  it  lies  quietly  on  the 
ground.  Yet  it  moves  with  the  earth  through  the  space 
of  the  solar  system  with  an  average  speed  of  nineteen 
miles  per  second.  There  is  relative  rest,  yet  there  is 
no  absolute  rest,  and  there  is  matter  without  regular 
form,  yet  there  is  no  matter  without  any  form  what- 
ever. 

Materialism  contains  one  great  truth  ;  and  it  is  this 
truth  that  gave  materialism  its  strength  and  its 
prominence.  Materialism  rose  in  opposition  to  su- 
pernaturalism.  Certainty,  materialism  went  too  far 
when  it  tried  to  explain  everything  from  matter,  when 
it  identified  matter  with  reality  ;  yet  it  stands  on  solid 
ground  when  it  maintains  that  every  reality  is  mate- 
rial. There  are  no  pure  forms  :  the  forms  of  reality  are 
forms  of  matter.  There  are  no  mere  motions  :  real 
motions  are  changes  of  place  among  material  particles. 
Yet  matter  is  only  one  aspect  of  reality;  matter  does  not 
cover  all  and  the  whole  of  reality.  Besides  the  mate- 
rial there  is  the  formal,  and  there  is  the  life  displayed 
in  the  spontaneous  motion  of  all  things.  Materialism  is 
right  as  opposed  to  idealism,  when  idealism  claims 
that  abstract  forms  are  entities  by  themselves.  Plato 
proposed  the  theory  that  ideas,  or  abstract  forms,  are 
the  only  true  realities,  and  that  the  things  from  which 
we  have  abstracted  these  forms  are  mere  shams,  mere 
transient  appearances.  Materialism  is  right  also  as 
opposed  to  spiritualism,  when  spiritualism  claims 


RE  A  CTION  A  CST  MA  TERIA  L  ISM.       385 

that  spirits  exist  or  can  exist  apart  from  material  bod- 
ies, that  the  spiritual  has  an  empire  of  its  own  in  ab- 
stract independence,  and  that  ghosts  can  walk  about 
in  bodiless  nudity. 

The  reaction  which,  as  we  can  everywhere  observe, 
is  taking  place  against  the  errors  of  materialism  is 
based  upon  a  great  truth,  and  it  is  this  truth  that 
will  survive  the  crudities  of  the  movement.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  about  the  fact  that  this  world  is  spiritual 
in  its  inmost  nature.  The  spiritual  animates  every 
particle  of  matter  and  appears  in  its  most  beautiful 
and  grandest  development  in  the  human  soul.  The 
spiritual  is  no  incidental  feature  of  reality,  but  an 
intrinsic  quality  of  its  existence,  which  will  surely 
blaze  out  in  the  course  of  the  evolution  of  worlds.  It 
is,  as  it  were,  the  revelation  of  the  secret  concealed  in 
the  potentialities  of  the  elementary  conditions  of  the 
universe. 

We  do  not  maintain  that  a  spirit  resides  in  every 
atom,  but  we  maintain  that  the  elements  of  feeling  are 
a  property  that  is  inseparably  connected  with  matter. 
Feeling  originates  when  a  certain  configuration  of  mol- 
ecules produces  a  definite  interaction  among  the  par- 
ticles of  organized  substance.  The  motions  of  every  par- 
ticle take  place  according  to  the  laws  of  mechanics, 
and  are  accompanied  not  with  feeling  but  with  ele- 
ments of  feeling.  The  feeling  that  takes  place  in  or- 
ganized substance  during  its  activity  is  not  a  product 
of  its  mechanical  motion  (i.  e.,  motion  is  not  changed 
into  feeling),  but  it  is  a  phenomenon  that  accom- 
panies its  mechanical  motions.  Mechanical  motions 
and  the  elements  of  feeling  are  not  interchange- 
able, but  run  parallel  to  each  other ;  and  special  com- 
binations of  these  elements  form  the  phenomena  we 


386  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

call  feelings.  Thus  together  with  the  evolution  of  the 
mechanism  progresses  the  development  of  feeling 
which  reaches  in  man  the  height  of  conscious  thought. 

The  elements  of  the  spiritual  we  consider  accord- 
ingly, as  a  universal  property  of  matter.  Nature  is  not 
dead,  it  is  alive ;  it  bears  in  its  bosom  the  germs  of 
life  and  will  develop  them  in  the  course  of  the  nat- 
ural process  of  evolution.  Spirit  is  a  special  com- 
bination, a  certain  form,  the  mechanical  parallelism 
of  which  is  found  in  the  activity  of  living  sub- 
stance ;  and  the  growth  of  the  spiritual  depends  upon 
and  accompanies  the  perfectionment  of  organism. 

Materialism  overlooks  the  importance  .of  form. 
Materialists  by  identifying  the  material  with  the 
real,  imagine  that  they  have  exhausted  the  reality  of  ob- 
jects when  they  consider  their  material  existence  alone. 
Without  the  material,  of  which  it  consists,  a  thing 
would  disappear  ;  the  material  element  in  it,  it  is  true, 
makes  the  thing  real,  in  so  far  as  it  gives  substantiality 
to  it.  Yet  the  form  is  no  mere  nothing,  as  material- 
ists are  too  apt  to  say.  The  form  is  exactly  that  which 
makes  the  thing  such  as  it  is.  Without  its  present 
form  a  watch  might  be  anything  ;  it  might  be  a  lump 
of  metal,  or  any  other  thing,  but  it  would  be  no  watch. 
The  form  of  things,  therefore,  is  the  most  important 
part  of  reality.  It  is  the  form  only,  be  it  in  motion  or 
in  matter,  that  excites  the  interest  of  the  scientist; 
form  arouses  the  imagination  of  the  artist  and  the 
industry  of  the  inventor. 

Spiritualists,  in  a  certain  sense,  ought  to  be  called 
materialists,  for  they  have  one  error  in  common  with 
materialists.  They  cannot  see  that  the  formal  and  the 
relational,  although  real,are  non-material.  But  while  ma- 
terialists consider  forms  as  mere  nothings,  spiritualists 


RE  A  CTION  A  G'ST  MA  TERIALISM.       387 

are  prone  to  look  upon  forms  as  if  they  were  substances, 
and  thus  materialize  spirit.  They  conceive  spirit  as  a 
substance  like  matter,  only  much  more  subtile,  and  not 
perceptible  by  our  senses.  Thus  they  lack  in  the 
properly  spiritual  conception  of  form,  and  become 
blind  to  the  irrefragibility  of  the  mechanical  law. 
They  dream  of  a  realm  of  life  in  which  a  different  and 
a  higher  kind  of  mechanics,  a  hypermechanics,  will 
supersede  the  usual  mechanical  laws  that  prevail  in 
the  realm  of  material  existences. 

Science  traces  the  laws  of  form  everywhere.  The 
laws  of  form  are  our  guides  and  the  instruments  of 
research.  No  scientific  problem,  whether  it  concerns 
matter  or  motion,  is  fully  solved  until  it  is  shown  to 
be  a  problem  of  form.  Thus  the  motions  of  the  ce- 
lestial bodies  are  reduced  to  simple  arithmetical  for- 
mulas, being  mere  applications  of  purely  formal  laws, 
and  in  this  astronomy  has  reached  a  certain  stage  of 
perfection.  Similarly,  the  problem  of  the  chemical 
elements  would  be  solved,  if  chemistry  could  demon- 
strate that  the  different  kinds  of  matter,  as  oxygen, 
carbon,  iron,  etc.,  are  special  forms  of  one  and  the 
same  substance  only,  and  that  their  different  prop- 
erties are  natural  consequences  of  their  difference  in 
configuration  as  well  as  density. 

There  is  no  absolutely  dead  matter.  But  every 
atom  is  freighted  with  the  potentialities  of  life. 
The  living  spontaneity  of  the  world  is  the  condition 
of  the  spiritual;  but  it  is  not  as  yet  the  spiritual  in  its 
development,  and  in  its  full  importance.  The  spirit- 
ual grows  in  and  with  the  forms  of  life ;  it  would  be 
nothing  without  the  forms  of  organization.  The  spir- 
itual, therefore,  appears  in  its  glory  in  organized  life, 
and  has  reached  upon  earth  the  highest  stage  of  its 
evolution  in  the  intelligence  of  the  spirit  of  man. 


REAL  AND  REALITY. 


[EXPLANATORY  NOTE.] 

THE  following  sentence  of  the  preceding  article,  "  The  Re- 
action against  Materialism,"  seemed  to  some  of  my  readers  to  con- 
tain a  contradiction  : 

"  Materialism  went  too  far  when  it  tried  to  explain  everything 
from  matter,  when  it  identified  matter  with  reality.  Yet  it  stands 
on  solid  ground  when  it  maintains  that  every  reality  is  material." 

The  contradiction  is  only  apparent,  as  will  be  learned  from 
the  following  consideration  : 

Every  reality  has  three  elements.  First,  it  consists  of  matter  ; 
secondly,  its  material  particles  have  a  special  form  ;  and  thirdly, 
they  are  endowed  with  a  certain  motion.  Matter,  form,  and  mo- 
tion are  abstracts  representing  certain  qualities  that  are  real ;  we 
call  them  "  real  "  because  they  are  qualities  of  reality.  Matter  is 
real,  form  is  real,  motion  is  real.  Yet  matter  is  not  all  of  reality, 
nor  is  form,  nor  is  motion ;  for  every  reality,  besides  being  mate- 
rial, possesses  at  the  same  time  a  special  form,  and  is  also  en- 
dowed with  some  kind  of  motion. 

It  is  apparent  that  adjectives  have  often  a  wider  application 
than  their  nouns.  The  adjective  "  real "  covers  a  larger  field  than 
the  noun  "reality."  Thus  every  fool  is  foolish,  but  every  thing 
that  is  foolish  need  not  exactly  be  a  fool.  I  may  say,  without  fall- 
ing into  a  contradiction,  this :  Space  is  real ;  yet  space  is  not  a  re- 
ality. This,  in  other  words,  means  :  Space  is  a  certain  quality  of 
reality  ;  the  relations  among  things,  the  qualities  of  things,  are  ob- 
jective properties  and  not  mere  subjective  illusions  ;  yet  is  space 
no  thingish  entity,  no  tangible  object,  as  concrete  bodies  are,  e.  g. , 
stones,  plants,  and  animals.  Space  is  non-material,  and  yet  space 
is  real.  If  I  have  the  following  two  premises : 

Every  reality  is  material. 
Space  is  real. 

I  cannot  conclude  the  syllogism  with  the  statement  : 

Therefore  space  is  material. 
And  there  is  no  contradiction  involved  if  I  add  the  sentence  : 

And  yet  space  is  non-material. 


FREEDOM  OF  WILL  AND  RESPONSIBILITY. 


THE  question  has  often  been  asked  :  "  Is  a  man  re- 
sponsible for  his  actions,  or  is  he  the  slave  of  condi- 
tions?" The  standpoint  of  science  and  that  of  ethics 
does  not  appear  to  agree.  Science  rests  upon,  it  pre- 
supposes, and,  indeed,  it  proves  by  its  very  existence 
the  rigidity  of  law.  All  natural  processes  are  pervaded 
by  an  irrefragable  necessity,  and  psychical  acts  are 
no  exception  to  the  universal  order  of  things.  But 
the  clergyman,  the  teacher,  the  ethical  instructor 
step  in,  proclaiming  the  moral  law  :  Thou  shalt  and 
thou  shalt  not.  What  is  the  use  of  moral  behests,  if 
the  formation  of  future  events  is  unalterably  fixed,  if 
we  are  unable  to  make  or  to  mar?  If  this  be  the  case, 
does  not  the  must  of  science  collide  with  the  ought  of 
morals  ? 

It  does  not  collide,  unless  the  one  or  the  other  or 
both  are  misunderstood.  The  must  and  the  ought  do 
not  contradict  each  other  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  con- 
dition and  they  explain  one  another.  The  ought  of 
morality  has  sense  only  on  the  supposition  of  the  must 
of  science. 

Theologians  made  the  mistake  of  defining  freedom 
of  will  as  something  that  breaks  through  all  natural 
laws ;  and  they  were  thus  obliged  to  look  upon  it  as  a 
mystery  beyond  the  grasp  of  the  philosopher.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  philosopher  was  obliged  to  deny 


390  THE  SGUL  OF  MAN. 

the  possibility  of  a  freedom  of  will  that  infringes 
upon  natural  laws.  Freedom  of  will  was  defined 
as  a  contradiction  of  scientific  necessity,  as  an  annihi- 
lation of  physical  laws,  and  as  an  exception  to  the 
natural  order  of  things. 

What  is  freedom  of  will?  Freedom  of  will  means 
that  a  man  is  free  to  do  that  which  he  wills.  A  pris- 
oner is  not  free  ;  his  liberty  is  curtailed  :  he  cannot  do 
what  he  wills.  A  vanquished  man  who  lies  at  the  feet 
of  his  conqueror,  is  not  free  in  his  action  ;  he  depends 
upon  the  mercy  of  his  adversary.  Yet  in  a  certain 
sense  even  the  fettered  man,  the  slave  and  bondsman 
remain,  or  at  least  can  remain,  free.  Their  actions 
do  not,  and  need  not,  entirely  depend  upon  circum- 
stances outside  of  them. 

Hagen  in  the  Teutonic  Saga  stands  locked  in  iron 
chains  before  Chriemhild ;  he  is  asked  where  he  had 
hidden  the  treasure  of  the  Nibelungs.  Yet  he  answers 
proudly : 

Den  schaz  weiz  nu  nieman  wan  got  unde  mtn, 
Der  sol  dich  valantinne  immer  gar  verholn  sin. 

[The  treasure  is  known  to  no  one  except  to  God  and  me, 
Forever,  fiendish  woman,  be  it  concealed  from  thee.} 

Hagen  proves  to  the  Queen  of  the  Huns  his  free- 
dom of  will  ;  and  his  will  is  stronger  than  the  fear  of 
death,  which  thereupon  he  suffers  at  the  hand  of  the 
revengeful  woman. 

If  the  decision  of  a  man  is  determined  by  sur- 
rounding conditions  solely,  he  feels  himself  to  be,  and 
indeed  he  is,  a  slave  of  the  situation.  But  if  his  de- 
cision is  determined  solely  by  his  character,  by  the 
thoughts  and  principles  that  move  his  mind  ;  if  he  re- 
mains unbiased  by  surrounding  conditions ;  if  on  the 
one-  hand  dangers,  calamities,  and  the  prospect  of 


FREEDOM  OF  WILL.  391 

death  cannot  frighten,  and  on  the  other  hand  allure- 
ments and  pleasures  cannot  decoy :  then  does  his  de- 
cision depend  in  all  situations  upon  himself,  then  is 
he  independent  of  the  influences  of  surrounding  con- 
ditions ;  he  is  a  free  man,  even  if  he  were  laden  with 
chains,  even  if  he  were  a  slave  as  was  Epiktetus. 

The  motives  that  set  the  psychical  mechanism  of 
a  human  soul  in  motion  have  two  phases — an  object- 
ive and  a  subjective  phase.  They  represent,  (i)  cer- 
tain facts  of  the  outside  world,  and,  (2)  certain  prin- 
ciples or  maxims  in  the  mind  indicating  how  to  deal 
with  the  facts  of  one's  surroundings.  The  objective 
fact  is  the  one  phase  and  the  subjective  attitude  is  the 
other  phase.  A  man,  in  whom  the  objective  fact  con- 
stitutes the  overwhelming  part  of  a  motive,  cannot  be 
said  to  be  free  ;  but  if  the  subjective  attitude  remains 
the  decisive  element  in  a  motive,  he  is  free,  and  his 
actions  will  be  the  true  expression  of  his  character. 
He  will  preserve  his  freedom  even  under  conditions 
where  weaker  souls  would  yield  to  a  compulsion  of 
circumstances. 

The  consciousness  of  man's  moral  freedom  and  of 
the  dignity  that  rises  from  this  freedom  should  never 
be  lost  by  any  one  of  us.  For  the  idea  that  we  can 
be  free,  if  we  dare  to,  that  we  are  free  if  we  do  not 
allow  ourselves  to  be  enthralled,  will  afford  us  an  in- 
calculable power  of  self-possession.  It  will  give  us 
stability  and  quietude  in  the  turmoil  of  exciting  events 
which  threaten  to  carry  us  away ;  whatever  be  our  fate, 
we  can  be,  and  can  remain,  faithful  to  ourselves  and 
to  our  principles. 

Freedom  of  will  is  man's  mark  of  dignity  over  brute 
creation,  and  Schiller,  the  poet  of  liberty,  proudly  sings: 

Man  is  free,  e'en  were  he  born  in  chains  t 


392  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

In  answer  to  this  view,  some  theologians  of  a 
mystical  cast  of  mind  declare,  that  freedom  of  will  does 
not  denote  the  freedom  of  man's  will  to  do  a  thing, 
but  it  means  the  freedom  of  a  man's  will  to  will  an- 
other thing  than  he  wills.  It  is  plain  that  the  free- 
dom of  a  man  to  do  what  he  wills  as  explained  above, 
does  not  stand  in  contradiction  to  natural  laws,  it 
forms  no  exception  to  the  universal  and  necessary 
course  of  nature.  For  whatever  a  man  wills,  he  must 
will  of  necessity.  The  decision  of  a  scoundrel  if 
his  freedom  of  will  is  not  curtailed,  if  he  can  act  as 
he  pleases,  will  of  necessity  be  that  of  a  scoundrel ; 
his  actions  cannot  but  show  his  character.  That  is  his 
prerogative,  flowing  from  the  freedom  of  will  that  na- 
ture allotted  to  man.  The  decisions  of  an  honest  man 
will  of  necessity  be  honest  and  will  prove  the  honesty 
of  his  character.  If  freedom  of  will  means  that  the 
decision  of  the  one  or  the  other — granted  their  char- 
acters are  as  they  are — might  be  different  from  what 
it  is,  this  would  indeed  be  a  reversion  of  the  order 
of  nature,  it  would  be  an  annihilation  of  the  law  of 
cause  and  effect,  and  it  would  make  ethics  impossible, 
— not  only  science  in  general,  but  among  the  sciences 
the  science  of  the  moral  ought  also. 

We  reject  any  conception  of  the  freedom  of  will 
which  implies  the  nonsensical  statement  that  a  man 
could  will  one  thing  and  the  contrary  of  that  thing  at  the 
same  time.  Certainly  a  man  can  wish  two  things  of 
which  the  one  excludes  the  other  :  but  he  can  will  the 
one  only.  So  long  as  he  wishes  to  do  at  the  same  time 
two  contradictory  things,  he  will  do  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other,  and  unless  the  motive  of  the  one  is 
stronger  than  the  other,  he  will  be  like  Buridan's  don- 
key,  who  starves  between  the  two  bundles  of  hay. 


FREEDOM  OF  WILL.  393 

Will  is  the  decision  to  let  some  of  our  wishes  pass 
into  act.  The  decision  of  a  fully  conscious  and 
responsible  man  is  the  end  and  outcome  of  a  delibera- 
tion. It  is  the  plan  of  action  sanctioned  by  the  ver- 
dict of  a  consensus  of  the  principles,  the  wishes,  and 
the  hopes — in  one  word,  of  all  the  ideas  of  a  man.  The 
decision  is  arrived  at  by  a  struggle  of  the  conflicting 
wishes  and  it  is  natural  that  the  strongest  wish  will  of 
necessity  gain  the  upper  hand. 

Let  us  for  instance  imagine,  that  a  young  man  is 
led  into  temptation.  An  occasion  offers  itself  to  com- 
mit a  defalcation.  The  hope  of  gain  is  the  motive  to 
commit  a  wrong  ;  there  is  the  chance  of  not  being  dis- 
covered ;  the  stronger  that  chance  is,  the  more  will  it 
strengthen  the  motive  of  the  deed.  On  the  other  hand, 
there  is  the  remembrance  of  the  eighth  commandment 
"  Thou  shalt  not  steal."  There  is  the  shame  of  be- 
coming a  thief,  and  then  perhaps  the  exhortations  of 
mother  and  father  are  remembered.  Their  shadows 
may  be  too  dim  and  their  voices  may  be  too  faint. 
Perhaps  they  grow  clearer  and  stronger,  the  more  the 
unhappy  youth  hesitates ;  they  at  last  eclipse  all  other 
motives  and  he  exclaims  "  Never  !  I  shall  never  dis- 
grace the  name  of  my  family ;  I  shall  keep  holy  the 
remembrance  of  father  and  mother,  and  remain  as 
honest  as  were  my  parents." 

The  decision  of  a  deliberation  will  always  turn  out 
as  it  does,  with  necessity.  The  decision,  however,  does 
not  depend  on  the  circumstances  of  the  surrounding 
world  alone,  not  solely  on  conditions  outside  of  us, 
but  also  arid  chiefly  on  our  character,  on  the  condi- 
tions inside  of  us.  If  our  moral  principles,  if  the  re- 
membrances of  dear  parents  and  instructors  are  strong 
in  a  man,  if  he  is  clear-minded  and  far-sighted  enough 


394  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

to  see  the  evil  consequences  that,  perhaps  not  at  once 
but  after  a  while,  will  be  sure  to  fall  upon  him,  he  will 
not  be  in  danger  »of  falling  an  easy  prey  to  every 
temptation.  And  it  is  for  this  reason  that  an  ethical 
instruction  of  the  young  is  necessary,  that  we  build 
churches  and  have  preachers  to  tell  us  again  and 
again,  how  necessary  is  the  moral  ought.  Noble  ideals 
and  virtuous  principles  must  be  implanted  into  the 
minds  of  men.  They  must  become  parts  of  their 
souls  and  truly  the  dominant  parts,  so  that  they  will 
never  be  overruled  in  temptation  by  evil  motives  and 
low  desires. 

Could  we  preach  morals,  if  after  all  an  honest  man 
might  will  the  contrary  of  what  he  wills,  if  his  deci- 
sion did  not  result  from  his  character  with  necessity, 
but  might  perchance  be  different  from  what  it  is?  Or 
again,  would  it  be  worth  while  to  trouble  about  preach- 
ing morals,  if  a  bad  character,  into  whose  soul  never 
entered  any  idea  of  obeying  another  command  than 
the  impulses  of  egotism,  might  after  all  act  right  as  if 
he  were  a  good  and  honest  and  well  conducted  man  ? 

The  ought  of  ethics  would  have  no  sense,  if  there 
were  no  must  in  the  course  of  nature,  such  as  science 
can  prove.  The  must  in  natural  events  and  in  history 
is  not  such  as  is  taught  by  Fatalism,  that  man  is  unable 
to  change  its  course.  The  fates  of  individuals  and  of 
nations  do  not  depend  upon  the  circumstances  of  envi- 
ronment only.  The  most  important  factor  of  our  per- 
sonal development  and  of  the  future  of  a  nation  lies 
within — within  the  minds  and  the  hearts  of  people. 
Jeder  ist  .seines  Gliickes  Schmied,  ("  Every  one  forges 
his  own  fate,")  says  a  German  proverb,  almost  too  trite 
to  be  quoted.  And  yet  it  is  so  very  true  !  The  result  of 
pur  development  depends  not  only  upon  the  circum- 


FREEDOM  OF  WILL.  395 

stances  under  which  we  are  born  and  live,  but  neces- 
sarily and  naturally  also,  and  chiefly,  upon  the  manner 
in  which  we  use  these  circumstances. 

Therefore  it  is  not  true — although  it  is  often  con- 
tended— that  science  when  recognizing  the  necessity 
with  which  decisions  of  the  will  take  place,  destroys  the 
responsibility  of  man.  What  is  responsibility  but  the 
consciousness  that  a  man  has  to  bear  the  consequences 
of  his  actions,  be  it  for  good  or  for  evil  ?  The  expe- 
rience of  common  sense  teaches  and  science  proves  that 
every  action  always  has  definite  consequences,  which 
upon  the  whole  can  be  calculated  and  ascertained  be- 
fore the  execution  of  the  action  ;  and  the  person  who 
does  an  action  must  accordingly  be  looked  upon  as 
the  author  not  only  of  the  action,  but  also  of  the  con- 
sequences contingent  upon  that  action. 

A  man  in  whose  mind  this  idea  is  always  present, 
i.  e. ,  a  man  who  feels  himself  responsible  for  his 
actions,  has  a  great  advantage  over  persons  in  whom 
it  is  lacking.  Those  in  whom  it  is  lacking  are,  properly 
speaking,  not  men ;  they  are  children.  They  are 
liable  to  commit  indeliberate  actions  which  must  in  the 
end  lead  them  into  trouble  ;  and  if  their  own  misfor- 
tunes do  not  educate  them  to  become  responsible  men, 
they  will  ultimately  go  to  the  wall. 

A  man  in  whose  soul  the  idea  that  he  is  responsible 
for  his  actions  is  a  controlling  power,  is  called  a  char- 
acter. In  whatever  he  does  he  will  prove  a  consistency 
with  himself  and  will  never  have  occasion  for  regret. 
This  idea  so  long  as  it  is  present  in  his  mind,  will 
exercise  in  difficulties  a  decisive,  and  in  temptations  a 
wholesome,  influence  upon  all  his  decisions. 


396  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 


A  criticism  by  Mr.  John  Maddock  on  this  article, 
"  Freedom  of  Will  and  Responsibility,"  appeared  in 
No.  142  of  The  Open  Court,  in  reply  to  which  the  fol- 
lowing remarks  were  made  : 

MR.  JOHN  MADDOCK  apparently  misunderstands  the  position 
taken  in  the  article  "  Freedom  of  Will  and  Responsibility."  Free- 
dom of  will  is  denned,  not  in  a  theological  or  metaphysical  sense, 
but  in  the  physical  or  natural  sense,  as  the  power  to  do  that  which 
one  wills.  A  slave  who  works  because  he  is  compelled  to  work  is 
not  free  :  he  acts  under  compulsion  ;  but  a  man  who  works  because 
he  is  eager  to  perform  a  certain  work,  is  free  :  he  acts  of  his  own 
free  will. 

The  old  theological  or  metaphysical  conception  defines  Free- 
dom of  Will  as  the  freedom  of  a  man  to  will  whatever  he  wills. 
This  definition  is  widely  different  from  our  definition  "to  do  that 
which  one  wills."  According  to  this  wrong  view  of  the  Freedom 
of  Will,  generally  called  indeterminism,  the  decision  of  a  man  is 
not  bound,  not  determined  by  any  law  ;  he  may  will  as  he  does,  but 
he  might  under  the  very  same  circumstances  will  differently. 

Indeterminism  is  based  upon  error  ;  it  attributes  to  man  an 
exceptional  place  in  the  universe  ;  he  is  supposed  to  be  exempt 
from  natural  laws,  and  the  rigid  law  of  cause  and  effect,  it  is 
maintained,  does  not  apply  to  his  will. 

Mr.  Haddock's  objections  are  all  valid  and  sound  against 
Freedom  of  Will  in  the  metaphysical  sense,  viz.,  against  indeter- 
minism, that  a  man  can  will  whatever  he  wills.  Indeterminism 
admits  law  in  the  environment  in  nature,  but  denies  it  in  the  organ- 
ism, in  the  will  of  man.  Indeterminism  declares  that  there  is  a 
cause  for  every  natural  phenomenon,  but  there  is  no  cause  for 
human  action  ;  man  is  supposed  to  act  without  a  cause.  This  view 
is  the  very  basis  of  dualism,  and  v/e  have  repeatedly  called  atten- 
tion to  the  untenableness  of  its  position. 

Matters  are  very  different,  if  our  definition  of  Freewill  is 
accepted.  The  decision  of  a  free  man  depends  upon  his  character. 
He  will  not  yield  to  compulsion,  but  act  as  he  sees  fit.  And  a  free 
man  must  of  necessity  will  and  act  as  he  does.  This  theory  of  free 
will  is  not  indeterminism  ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  in  accord  with  de- 
terminism. 


FREEDOM  OF  WILL.  397 

We  are  wont  to  call  a  man  who  is  easily  carried  away  to  in- 
considerate actions,  a  slave  of  his  passion.  The  action  of  a  rash 
man  may  be  called  free,  because  he  acts  without  compulsion  ;  yet 
he  is  not  free  in  so  far  as  his  decision  is  made  without  proper  delib- 
eration. One  part  of  his  soul  alone  decides  his  will,  and  this  part, 
at  the  time  unduly  strong,  suppresses  all  other  thoughts,  all 
nobler  ideals,  and  worthier  considerations.  His  better  self  is  not 
allowed  to  be  heard  on  this  occasion  and  does  not  speak  until  it  is 
too  late.  The  result  of  such  action  is  called  regret,  or  if  it  be  very 
strong,  remorse. 

A  man  who  either  from  ignorance  or  malevolence  does  not  care 
to  have  his  decisions  governed  by  justice  and  rectitude,  will  com- 
mit actions  which  he  would  have  to  regret  if  he  were  a  moral  man. 
Such  a  man  society  forces  by  its  judicial  and  police  institutions  to 
do  right.  Such  a  man  is  not  free  ;  society  makes  him  a  slave  of  the 
laws  of  society  ;  "  he  needs  a  policeman,"  as  Mr.  Haddock  says. 
And  I  believe  every  one  of  us  possesses  a  tendency  to  overstep  the 
limits  of  our  rights  and  infringe  upon  our  neighbors'.  Yet  at  the 
same  time,  every  one  of  us  is  animated  (if  it  were  not  from  natural 
kindliness  it  would  be  from  mere  egotism)  by  a  spirit  of  be- 
nevolence toward  our  fellow-beings  and  the  good  intention  to  be  a 
useful  and  worthy  member  of  society.  In  that  case,  however,  the 
law  would  become  part  of  our  soul ;  "  the  policeman,"  to  use  Mr. 
Maddock's  expression,  would  be  within  us  ;  and  in  that  case  our 
decisions,  being  regulated  by  ourselves,  would  be  the  expression 
of  our  own  character.  We  would  not  be  slaves  of  the  policeman  ; 
we  would  be  policeman  and  subject  in  one  person  ;  and  accord- 
ingly would  be  our  own  commanders  :  we  would  be  free.". 


IS  DEATH  A  FINALITY? 


IT  is  a  well-known  fact  to  which  scientists  and 
thinkers  have  more  than  once  called  our  attention, 
that  there  is  no  natural  death  among  the  lowly  organ- 
ized animals  that  stand  at  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  of 
evolution.  Moners  and  amcebas  grow  and  divide ;  and 
if  they  are  not  starved  or  crushed  to  death,  they  will 
live  and  multiply  into  eternity.  The  moner  which  we 
fish  out  of  a  pond  of  stagnant  water  for  observation 
to-day,  is  the  same  individual  or  part  of  the  same  in- 
dividual that  lived  aeons  ago,  long  long  before  man  ap- 
peared upon  earth. 

Is  not  man  a  part  of  animal  life,  and  indeed  the 
highest  part?  How  is  it  that  he  must  die?  If  immor- 
tality is  the  natural  state  of  those  creatures  of  which 
all  higher  animate  beings  are  but  complex  and  dif- 
ferentiated forms,  how  did  it  happen  that  death  came 
into  this  world  of  life  ? 

DEATH    AND    BIRTH. 

Death  is  the  twin  of  birth.  It  seems  natural  to  say 
that  all  that  lives  must  die.  This,  however,  is  a  wrong 
statement  of  facts.  It  is  more  correct  to  say  that  every 
creature  that  is  born  will  die.  Birth  is  the  beginning 
of  a  new  being  and  death  is  its  end.  Yet  we  shall 
easily  recognize  the  truth  that  neither  birth  is  an  ab- 


SS  DEATH  A  FINALITY?  399 

solutely  new  beginning  nor  death  an  absolute  finality. 
Beginning  and  end  of  individual  life  are  relative. 

When  we  investigate  the  problem  of  the  origin  of 
death,  we  must  at  the  same  time  answer  the  ques- 
tion, "  How  did  birth  come  into  the  world?  " 

The  moner  knows  of  no  birth ;  it  grows  and  di- 
vides, thus  passing  beyond  the  limits  of  its  individual 
existence.  There  is  not  a  mother-moner,  and  its  child  ; 
there  are  only  the  results  of  a  division.  The  same 
moner  is  before  us,  not  in  one  coherent  lump,  but 
in  two  parts. 


PROPAGATION    OF    A    MONER. 


The  propagation  of  moners,  the  lowliest  organized  of  beings,  occurs  by 
spontaneous  division.  A.  The  complete  moner — a  Protamceba.  B.  Splitting 
up  of  the  same  by  a  median  contraction,  into  two  halves.  C.  Each  of  the  two 
halves  has  separated  from  its  companion  and  makes  up  an  independent  in- 
dividual. (After  Haeckel.) 


The  process  is  a  little  more  complicated  in  such 
unicellular  organisms  as  the  amczba  sphaerococcus 
for  instance.  This  amoeba  contains  a  nucleus  (A,  £), 
with  a  nucleolus  (A,  a]  ;  and  its  plasma  (A,  c)  is 
encased  in  a  membrane  (A,  d).  When  the  amoeba 
grows  the  nucleolus  doubles,  and  the  plasma  bursts 
its  membrane  (as  seen  in  B).  Each  nucleolus  forms 
its  own  nucleus,  and  the  plasma  gathering  round  each 


400  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

nucleus  begins  to   separate   into   two   parts,  until  the 
division  is  perfect. 


PROPAGATION    OF   AMCEBA   SPHAEROCOCCUS. 

The  propagation  of  this  unicellular  organism  takes  place  by  spontaneous 
division.  A.  Encased  amoeba,  a  simple  spherical  cell,  consisting  of  a  lump  of 
protoplasm  (c),  which  contains  a  nucleus  (b)  and  a  nucleolus  (a),  and  is  en- 
closed in  a  membrane.  B.  The  released  amoeba  that  has  burst  its  cyst  or 
membranous  pouch  and  left  it.  Its  nucleus  contains  two  nucleoli.  C.  The 
amoeba  begins  to  divide,  its  nucleus  splitting  up  into  two  nuclei  and  the  plasma 
between  the  two  contracting.  D.  The  division  is  completed,  the  plasma  also 
having  been  completely  divided  into  two  parts  (Da  and  Db).  (After  Haeckel, 
Natilrliche  Schopfungsgeschichte. ) 

The  next  step  in  the  evolution  of  a  '  growth  be- 
yond the  limits  of  individual  existence  '  is  gemmation. 
Gemmation  is  a  process  that  can  be  observed  in  spring 
in  all  trees  and  flowers.  A  bud  appears,  and  grows 
rapidly  to  maturity.  Many  worms,  some  medusas, 
and  some  corals  multiply  by  gemmation.  In  gemma- 
tion the  parts  are  not  equal  at  the  start.  There  is  a 
mother,  and  a  child;  for  the  division  is  only  partial, 
and  the  child  begins  as  a  germ. 

Sporogony  is  not  much  different  from  gemmation; 
it  is  the  secretion  of  germinal  cells,  called  spores. 
The  spores  possess  the  faculty  of  developing  the  same 
structures  of  which  its  mother  organism  consists. 

Sporogony  is  the  connecting  link  leading  to  sex- 
ual generation,  which  for  all  higher  stages  of  life  is 
destined  to  become  the  sole  method  of  procreation. 
Among  that  order  of  beings  whose  nature  is  not  yet 


AS"  DEATH  A  FINALITY?  401 

so  defined  that  they  can  be  classed  either  with  animals 
or  with  plants,  and  which  Professor  Haeckel  calls 
protists,  many  instances  are  to  be  found  where  the 
procreation  of  spores  results  from  a  union  of  two  in- 
dividual cells.  These  cells  may,  in  many  cases,  yet 
not  always,  be  of  a  homogeneous  nature.  And  in  the 
course  of  further  advancement  the  two  cells  become 
distinct  ;  they  commence  to  disintegrate  into  two  dif- 
ferent and  complementary  elements,  which  show  an 
affinity  for  one  another,  similar  to  that  between  chem- 
ical alkalis  and  bases  which  tend  to  unite  into  salts. 
As  soon  as  this  differentiation  takes  place  we  have  ex- 
amples of  sexual  generation. 

Multiplication  by  division  is  not  entirely  limited 
to  the  very  lowest  creatures  ;  we  find  it  also  among 
animals  that  stand  comparatively  high  in  the  scale 
of  evolution,  much  higher  at  least  than  the  moner. 
Some  polyps,  and  among  them  corals,  multiply  by  di- 
vision. Their  mouths,  having  the  appearance  of  a 
flower,  grow  broader  in  size  ;  the  opposite  edges  ap- 
proach each  other  at  the  median  line,  until  they  unite. 
Thus  the  two  corners  of  the  mouth  are  separated  for 
good  and  form  two  corals  upon  one  stalk. 

There  is,  for  the  individual  animals  that  come  into 
existence,  a  great  advantage  in  the  process  of  multi- 
plication by  division.  Every  moner,  every  polyp  thus 
produced  starts  in  life  as  a  full-fledged  creature. 
There  is  no  state  of  infancy  with  all  its  troubles  and 
dangers  to  be  passed  through,  for  these  creatures  make 
their  first  appearance  in  a  state  of  maturity.  It  is 
natural  that  the  form  and  soul  of  the  original  organism 
should  thus  be  preserved  in  all  the  details  of  their 
parts.  The  heredity  of  these  animals  is  no  similarity, 
but  absolute  identity. 


402 


THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 
A 


CONJUGATION    OF    CHILODON    CUCULLULUS. 

A  shows  the  two  individuals  in  immediate  contact ;  b,  mouth  ;  z>.  c.,  con- 
tractile vesicle  ;  n,  nucleus  ;  nu,  nucleolus  or  attendant  nucleus,  i.  e.,  new  for- 
mation of  a  smaller  nucleus. 

B.  The  attendant  nucleus  divides  into  two  segments,  nu'  and  nu\     The 
old  nucleus  n  shows  signs  of  regression. 

C.  After  the  division  of  the  segments  has  been  completely  effected,  one 
segment  of  each  individual  is  exchanged  for  one  of  the  other  individual,  when 
a  union  of  both  as  thus  exchanged  takes  place. 

D  shows  an  unequal  breaking  up  of  the  newly  formed  mixed  nucleus  into 
a  larger  (««)  and  a  smaller  (nun)  segment. 

E.  The  old  nucleus  dries  up,  and  the  larger  segment  of  the  new-formed 
nucleus  assumes  its  function  in  the  individual  ;  the  smaller  segment  forms  the 
new  attendant  nucleus. 

Many  details  of  this  process,  the  investigations  regarding  which  have  been 
carried  on  particularly  by  Butschli,  Maupas,  and  Balbiani,  have  not  as  yet 
been  satisfactorily  established.  Whether  the  exchange  of  the  differentiated 
parts  takes  place  through  the  mouth  or  through  a  special  orifice,  could  not, 
owing  to  the  small  size  of  the  creatures,  be  determined.  Still,  whatever  ob- 
scurity may  prevail  in  matters  of  particular  process,  it  is  firmly  settled  that 
we  have  to  deal  in  such  cases  with  a  fertilization  constituting  the  beginning 
of  sexual  generation. 


SS  DEA  TH  A  FINALITY?  403 

These  advantages  are  lost  in  the  measure  that  the 
procreation  of  new  individuals  approaches  the  system 
of  sexual  generation.  Buds  are  at  first  very  tender 
and  may  easily  be  injured  before  they  are  as  strong  as 
their  mother  organism.  Spores  are  helpless  and  may 
be  devoured  as  food  by  the  many  hungry  animals  that 
swarm  about  them.  And  the  higher  we  rise  in  the 
scale  of  evolution  the  greater  become  the  difficulties 
of  a  germ  to  reach  maturity.  These  disadvantages  to 
the  individual,  however,  are  richly  overbalanced  by 
the  higher  advantages  afforded  through  greater  possi- 
bilities of  development  and  progress.  The  struggle 
for  life  grows  fiercer,  yet  in  and  through  the  struggle 
the  organisms  grow  stronger  ;  they  adapt  themselves 
to  conditions,  first  unconsciously,  then  consciously,  and 
in  man  they  acquire  that  foresight  and  circumspec- 
tion which  make  him  the  lord  of  creation. 

Those  animals  that  survive  can  upon  the  whole  sur- 
vive only  by  great  efforts ;  they  were  not  strong  at  the 
start,  so  they  had  to  learn  to  be  strong ;  they  were  un- 
mindful in  the  presence  of  dangers,  so  they  had  to 
learn  to  be  on  their  guard  in  perilous  situations.  In 
every  respect  they  had  to  pass  through  a  severe  school 
and  every  single  virtue  that  can  lead  them  onwards, 
they  had  to  acquire  themselves. 

Innumerable  individuals,  it  is  true,  are  sacrificed 
in  the  struggle  for  existence ;  yet  their  lives  are  not 
mere  waste  in  the  household  of  nature :  they  are  the 
martyrs  of  progress;  and  the  generation  of  to-day  lives 
upon  the  fruits  of  their  sacrifice. 

In  sexual  generation  there  is  a  blending  of  two  in- 
dividuals which  affords  greater  possibilities  for  im- 
provement. The  conditions  under  which  the  com- 
plementary germs  unite,  and  the  proportions  of  their 


404  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

mixture  may  be  different.  Thus  a  variety  is  produced 
which  admits  of  a  selection  of  the  best,  the  strongest, 
and  the  most  adapted  for  survival.  The  original  con- 
servatism of  life  that  tended  to  reproduce  itself  ex- 
actly, down  to  the  minutest  details,  is  in  this  way  not 
abolished,  but  modified  or  checked  by  the  possibility 
of  changes.  Life  becomes  more  plastic  ;  and  the  se- 
vere teacher  of  life,  nature,  takes  care  that  bad  qual- 
ities unfit  for  preservation  will  soon  discontinue. 

WHENCE  CAME  DEATH  ? 

There  is  a  moral  in  the  victory  of  sexual  genera- 
tion over  the  multiplication  by  division.  Sexual  or 
amphigonous  generation  is  less  egotistical  than  non- 
sexual  or  monogonous  generation.  It  is  no  mere  re- 
production of  self,  but  the  reproduction  of  a  unison  of 
two  selves.  Sexual  generation,  propagation  by  birth, 
and  the  helplessness  of  offspring  in  infancy  impose 
heavy  duties,  as  of  nursing  and  education,  upon  parent- 
individuals;  yet  the  performance  of  these  duties  is 
richly  rewarded  in  the  progress  of  the  race.  These 
duties  teach  even  creatures  of  lower  rank  to  care 
for  the  preservation  of  their  kind  more  in  their  chil- 
dren than  in  their  individual  selves.  The  rise  to 
higher  planes  in  evolution  is  conditioned  by  the  de- 
velopment of  moral  faculties. 

The  sacrifice  that  creatures  have  to  bring  for  the 
amelioration  of  their  offspring  is  greater  still :  they 
have  to  sacrifice  their  individual  immortality.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  regenerative  faculty  of  an  amoeba  de- 
pends upon  the  function  of  its  nucleus,  perhaps  even 
of  the  nucleolus.  The  ingenious  experiments  of  Gruber, 
Nussbaum,  and  Ehrenberg,  prove,  that  if  we  cut  out 
the  nucleus  from  one  of  the  lowly  organisms  the 


IS  DEA  TH  A  FINALITY? 


4°5 


animal  will  continue  to  live,  but  that  it  has  lost  the 
power  of  renewing  its  form.*  Balbiani,  who  repeated 
the  experiments  of  Gruber  upon  Stentor  cceruleus, 
shows  in  the  adjoined  diagram  the  renewal  of  the 
whole  individual  from  any  part  if  but  one  nucleus  be 
preserved. 


ARTIFICIAL   DIVISION    OF    STENTOR   CGERULEUS. 

The  nucleus  of  Stentor  coeruleus  consists  of  a  chain  of  nuclear  beads. 
The  prefixed  figure  shows  the  restoration  of  the  middle  section  which  con- 
tains only  a  single  nucleus.  After  M.  Balbiani. t 

It  is  the  nucleus  that  in  lower  animals  represents 
the  inner  organs  of  reproduction,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  the  two  sexes  are  differentiated  into  two  com- 
plementary parts.  In  a  child  the  differentiation  of 
the  nucleus  into  either  a  male  or  a  female  germ  has 
begun  but  is  not  yet  perfect.  The  child,  still  pos- 
sessing a  re-formative  nucleus,  thus  grows  ;  and  in 
many  respects  its  tender  system  possesses  more  vital- 
ity than  an  adult  person.  But  as  soon  as  the  child 
has  reached  the  state  of  maturity,  when  the  differen- 
tiation of  the  nucleus  has  become  perfect,  its  growth 
ceases.  The  nucleus  in  each  individual  of  the  two 
sexes  no  longer  being  complete  loses  its  re-form- 

* Biologisches  Centralblatt,  1885,  p.  73;  Encyclopedia  Britannica,  Pro- 
tozoa. 

t  From  Alfred  Binet's  monograph,  The  Psychic  Life  of  Micro-Organisms. 
Open  Court  Pub.  Co.,  Chicago,  111. 


406  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ative  power  with  regard  to  the  individual  and  can 
temporarily  regain  it  only  through  fecundation.  Prop- 
erly speaking  neither  man  nor  woman  is  a  perfect  and 
independent  being.  Separately  they  are  mortals,  they 
are  doomed  to  die.  They  will  live  for  a  while  like  a 
micro-organism  whose  nucleus  is  imperfect.  Yet  in 
their  unison,  man  and  woman  together,  are  as  im- 
mortal as  the  moner. 

Upon  this  fact  is  based  the  holiness  of  matrimony. 
Matrimony  is  a  union  not  for  this  life  only,  but  for  our 
life  after  death  in  the  coming  generations.  This  makes 
of  wedlock  an  act  of  religious  sanctity ;  and  it  is  ap- 
parent that  it  should  not  be  entered  upon  merely  from 
personal  considerations,  for  the  benefit,  the  pleasure, 
or  happiness  of  either  or  both  parties.  The  future 
of  humanity  depends  upon  the  sacredness  of  matri- 
mony. 

Birth,  we  have  learned,  is  a  special  kind  of  multi- 
plication ;  and,  as  such,  it  is  a  growth  beyond  the  limits 
of  individual  existence.  Before  the  life  of  a  child 
commenced,  it  was  a  part  of  its  parents  ;  and  its  ex- 
istence is  nothing  but  an  outgrowth  and  a  continua- 
tion of  their  lives.  Thus  the  immortality  of  the 
moner  is  not  lost  in  the  higher  stages  of  organized 
life,  it  only  becomes  more  spiritual.  It  ceases  more 
and  more  to  be  an  identity  of  the  body,  and  becomes 
a  preservation  of  the  soul.  The  soul  of  an  animal, 
however,  is  not  its  mere  shape,  not  its  present  form 
alone,  but  its  formative  principle  also  :  the  form  of 
special  motions,  and  the  form  to  which  these  motions 
in  a  further  evolution  will  lead.  The  soul  of  an  as- 
piring man  is  not  only  the  faculties  he  possesses  at 
present,  but  the  ideals  also  which  he  aspires  to ;  it  is 
the  direction  of  his  energy  and  the  goal  of  his  en- 


IS  DEATH  A  FINALITY?  407 

deavors.  This  preservation  of  human  souls,  admit- 
ting of  development,  is  therefore  greatly  superior  to 
the  conservatism  of  the  soul-life  in  moners  ;  it  is  the 
preservation,  not  of  the  present  form,  but  of  an  up- 
ward movement,  of  the  soul  of  soul,  and  this  leads 
to  a  realization  of  ever  higher  possibilities. 

Is  the  immortality  of  soul-life  not  more  valuable 
than  individual  existence?  If  the  death  of  ourselves, 
as  individuals,  is  the  price  thereof,  let  Death  have 
his  prey,  and  let  him  teach  us  the  earnestness  of  life, 
so  that  we  may  regulate  our  conduct,  not  from  the 
standpoint  of  narrow  egotism,  not  according  to  the 
view  that  death  is  a  finality,  but  from  the  ethical  stand- 
point of  immortality. 

THE    ETHICS    OF    IMMORTALITY. 

Death  is  no  finality,  and  we  must  not  form  our  rules 
of  conduct  to  accord  with  the  idea  that  the  exit  of 
our  individual  life  is  the  end  of  all.  People  who  have 
no  interests,  no  hopes  or  fears,  no  cares  or  ideals  that 
reach  beyond  the  grave,  may  enjoy  themselves  better 
than  others  who  live  their  lives  with  a  constant  pros- 
pect of  immortality ;  yet,  in  the  long  run  of  many 
generations  they  will  go  to  the  wall.  Nature  does 
not  preserve  the  individual  that  cares  for  itself  alone. 
But  nature  preserves  those  individual  features  of 
great  men  who  conquer  egotism,  and  lead  moral  lives 
of  self-discipline  and  ideal  aspirations. 

The  immortality  of  the  soul  was  instinctively  felt 
even  before  man  could  have  a  distinct  and  clear  idea 
about  its  possibility.  The  moral  teachers  of  mankind 
found  it  necessary  to  build  their  ethics  upon  this 
truth,  and  it  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered  at  that  the 
opinions  of  the  churches  survived  in  the  struggle  for 


408  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

existence  against  those  people  who  lopked  upon  death 
as  an  absolute  finality.  The  belief  in  the  immor- 
tality of  soul  life  is  a  marvelous  preservative  among 
the  many  dangers  and  temptations  of  the  world,  and 
the  ethics  that  are  derived  therefrom  are  innervating 
and  refreshing  and  strengthening. 

The  immortality  of  the  soul  was  taught  to  be 
the  migration  of  a  disembodied  ghost,  who  was  sup- 
posed to  wander  through  unknown  haunts,  or  to  soar 
upward  to  some  distant  star.  We  now  know  that  this 
view  is,  upon  scientific  grounds,  untenable.  But  this 
erroneous  conception  was,  after  all,  truer  than  the 
flat  denial  of  any  immortality.  The  truth  that  lives 
in  the  error  keeps  it  alive,  to  the  great  astonishment 
of  those  who  look  upon  the  immortality  of  the  soul  as 
a  mere  superstition. 

The  ethics  that  Sophocles  taught  in  his  time  was  a 
rule  of  conduct  dictated  by  a  regard  for  our  state  after 
death.  There  was  nothing  higher,  nothing  greater 
to  a  Greek  citizen  than  obedience  to  the  laws  of  his 
country.  Yet  the  regard  for  our  state  after  death, 
the  poet  declared,  is  holier  still  ;  it  is  an  unwritten 
law  graven  in  our  hearts,  and  it  rules  supreme  over 
all  the  written  laws  of  states.  The  ruler  of  a  city 
may  impiously  deny  the  rite  of  burial  to  his  enemy  ; 
he  may,  by  the  written  law  of  state  authority,  inflict 
capital  punishment  upon  the  transgressor.  But  a 
woman  like  Antigone  will  disobey  the  royal  authority, 
because  of  the  higher  authority  of  the  unwritten  law 
in  her  heart.  An  offence  like  that  is  a  righteous  of- 
fence. • 

Sophocles  makes  her  declare  to  Creon  the  motive 
of  her  deed  in  the  following  lines  : 


IS  DEATH  A  FINALITY?  409 

"  Thus  have  I  righteously  offended  here. 
For  longer  time,  methinks,  have  I  to  please 
The  dwellers  in  that  world  than  those  in  this ; 
For  I  shall  rest  forever  there  ;  butthou 
Dishonor,  if  thou  wilt,  the  laws  divine." 

The  whole  gist  of  ethics — if  it  be  real  ethics,  and 
not  mere  worldly  prudence — is  the  regulation  of  life 
from  the  standpoint  of  eternity.  The  attempt  has 
been  made  by  philosophers  who  look  upon  death  as 
a  finality,  to  construct  a  new  kind  of  ethics  which 
should  have  nothing  to  do  with  any  aspirations  that 
reach  beyond  the  grave.  They  succeeded  to  a  cer- 
tain extent ;  they  succeeded  in  so  far  as  they  showed 
that  all  egotism  will  necessarily  fail  to  accomplish  its 
ends,  and  that  those  who  yearn  for  happiness  will  be 
sure  never  to  gain  it.  Therefore,  they  said,  if  you  want 
happiness,  do  not  seek  it,  do  not  long  for  it,  for  if 
you  do,  you  will  miss  it.  *  This  is  the  negative  result 
of  an  attempt  to  base  ethics  on  man's  yearning  for 
happiness  ;  and  this  result  is  most  valuable,  in  so  far 
as  it  proves  that  our  yearning  for  happiness  is  just 
that  instinct  which  must  be  checked  by  the  behests 
of  ethics. 

Ethics  must  be  based  on  facts,  and  must  be  applied 
to  facts.  The  facts  of  soul  life  and  its  relations  to 
the  surrounding  world,  do  not  make  it  likely  that  liv- 
ing creatures  exist  for  the  mere  enjoyment  of  life. 
Happiness  is  one  important  component  of  life.  But 
so  is  work,  so  is  recreation,  so  is  the  endeavor  to 
progress,  and  so  is  the  satisfaction  of  having  accom- 
plished something  useful  for  humanity.  Happiness  is 

*  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer  in  the  Popular  Science  Monthly  for  August,  1888, 
compares  happiness  to  the  bull's  eye  of  a  target  which  must  not  be  directly 
aimed  at.  "  If  you  do,"  the  instructor  in  archery  says,  "you  will  inevitably 
miss  it.'  Happiness,  we  agree  with  Mr.  Spencer,  is  generally  desired;  but 
says  Mr.  Spencer,  "  happiness  will  not  be  found  if  it  is  directly  sought." 


410  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

not  the  end  and  purpose  of  life,  if  it  were,  the  great 
pessimist,  Schopenhauer,  would  be  right,  that  life  is 
not  worth  its  own  troubles.  Life  is  the  denouement, 
the  development,  the  evolution  of  the  cosmos.  If 
life  can  be  said,  at  all,  to  have  a  purpose,  it  is  its  own 
evolution.  And  the  evolution  of  life  is  no  mere  blind 
struggle  for  existence,  but  a  race  in  an  arena  for  ethi- 
cal aspirations. 

There  are  dreamers  who  think  that  competition  is 
the  root  of  all  evil ;  they  picture  a  state  of  society  in 
which  happiness  will  rule  because  competition  has 
disappeared.  It  is  the  dream  of  a  Schlaraffia,  of  an 
Utopian  country,  where  dolce  far  niente  makes  a  par- 
adise in  which  men  live  without  backbones,  because 
no  backbone  is  needed  in  a  heaven  where  the  struggle 
for  existence  is  abolished.  Let  them  beware  lest  their 
dreams  make  them  unfit  for  real  life. 

There  is  another  class  of  men  who  like  such  dream- 
ers hanker  after  a  state  of  peaceful  enjoyment.  Being 
in  possession  of  some  worldly  goods,  they  wish  to 
preserve  them  without  being  exposed  to  the  constant 
struggle  for  life,  which  forces  them  to  be  always  alert 
to  keep  abreast  with  competitors,  and  to  progress  with 
the  spirit  of  the  time.  These  -men  clamor  for  protec- 
tion of  national  industry,  they  favor  combinations, 
trusts,  and  pools.  A  high  tariff  and  strong  trusts  may 
certainly  for  a  time  make  business  life  easy  in  our 
manufacturing-world,  but  in  the  long  run  it  will  weaken 
it.  Indeed,  high  tariffs  and  "combines"  are  (so  I  am 
told,  the  greatest  iron  manufacturer  of  America  said) 
certain  signs  of  weakness.  I  do  not  intend  to  discuss 
politics  here.  A  tariff  may  or  may  not  be  justified  in 
special  cases  for  some  reason  or  another.  We  might 
indeed  be  obliged  to  wage  a  commercial  war  against 


fS  DEATH  A  FINALITY?  411 

England,  or  against  Europe  generally.  Yet  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  if  a  country  introduces  tariffs  for 
protection,  it  must  be  considered  as  a  time  of  educa- 
tion ;  it  is  the  raising  a  child  and  bringing  it  up  to 
maturity.  The  purpose  of  each  war  is  an  honorable 
peace,  the  purpose  of  school  is  practical  life.  The 
purpose  of  a  tariff  for  protection  must  be  its  abolition 
in  not  too  distant  a  time. 

Let  us  not  look  for  ease  in  this  world  unless  it  be 
on  the  eve  of  a  life  that  has  been  full  of  aspirations 
and  labor.  There  is  no  ease  for  those  who  wish  to  pro- 
gress. And  let  us  find  satisfaction  not  in  the  pleasures 
of  life,  but  in  the  noble  struggle  for  advancement  and 
amelioration. 

Facts  being  as  they  are,  we  must  adapt  ourselves 
to  facts.  If  we  do,  we  shall  master  them  and  govern 
the  course  of  nature.  But  our  adaptation  to  facts  must 
not  be  from  to-day  to  to-morrow,  but  so  far  as  we  can 
see.  It  must  be  made  from  the  standpoint  of  immor-. 
tality,  and  with  due  regard  for  the  unity  of  all  life  upon 
earth  and  in  consideration  of  the  grand  possibilities 
and  noble  ideals  of  mankind.  Here  lies  the  basis  of 
ethical  aspirations. 


THE  COMMUNISM  OF  SOUL-LIFE. 


THE  nature  of  all  soul-life,  intellectual  as  well  as 
emotional,  is  founded  upon  communism.  No  growth  of 
ideas  for  any  length  of  time  is  possible  without  com- 
munication. It  is  the  exchange  of  thought  and  mutual 
criticism  that  produces  intellectual  progress.  And  it 
is  the  warmth  of  a  sympathetic  heart  which  kindles 
similar  feelings  in  others. 

With  every  sentence  that  you  speak  to  others,  a 
part  of  your  soul  is  transferred  to  them.  And  in  their 
souls  your  words  may  fall  like  seeds.  Some  may  fall 
by  the  wayside  where  the  fowls  come  and  devour  them 
up.  Others  may  fall  upon  a  rock  where  they  have 
not  much  earth.  Some  may  fall  among  thorns  which 
will  choke  them.  Yet  some  of  them  will  fall  upon 
good  ground  :  and  the  words  will  take  root  and  grow 
and  bring  forth  fruit,  some  a  hundred-fold,  some  sixty- 
fold,  some  thirty-fold. 

We  may  compare  humanity  to  a  coral  plant.  The 
single  corals  are  connected  among  themselves  through 
the  canals  in  the  branches  from  which  they  grow.  No 
one  of  them  can  prosper  without  supplying  its  neigh- 
bors with  the  superabundance  of  its  prosperity.  The 
main  difference  is  that  the  communism  of  soul  life  is 
much  closer  and  more  intimate,  and  the  thinker  who 
freely  gives  away  his  spiritual  treasures,  unlike  the 
giver  of  material  gifts,  does  not  lose  :  he  is  rather 


COMMUNISM  OF  SOUL- LIFE.          413 

the  gainer,  for  spiritual  possessions  grow  in  importance 
the  more  profusely  they  are  imparted.  The  commoner 
they  are,  the  more  powerful  they  become. 

Every  spiritual  giving  is  a  gaining  ;  it  is  a  taking 
possession  of  other  peoples'  minds.  It  is  an  expan- 
sion, a  transplantation  of  our  thoughts,  a  psychic 
growth  beyond  the  narrow  limits  of  our  individual  ex- 
istence into  other  souls  ;  it  is  a  rebuilding,  a  reconstruc- 
tion of  our  own  souls  or  of  parts  of  our  own  souls,  in 
other  souls.  It  is  a  transference  of  mind.  Every  con- 
versation is  an  exchange  of  souls.  Those  whose  souls 
are  'flat,  stale,  and  unprofitable,'  cannot  be  expected 
to  overflow  with  deep  thought.  But  those  who  are 
rich  in  spiritual  treasures  will  not,  as  misers,  keep  them 
for  themselves.  For  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart 
the  mouth  speaketh,  and  spiritual  treasures  are  not 
wasted  when  imparted  ;  they  are  not  lost,  but  put  out 
on  usury,  and  will  multiply  and  thus  bring  great  re- 
ward, although  the  reward  be  not  personal  profit  to 
ourselves. 

Good  and  noble  ideas,  instructive  truths,  warm 
words  of  good-will  and  sympathy  will  accomplish  great 
things.  But  evil  words  possess  a  similar  power. 
Strong  characters  will  hear  and  reject  evil  words,  but 
weak  minds  will  be  poisoned  by  them.  It  is  the  great 
consequence  that  speech  draws  with  it,  which  de- 
mands that  before  uttering  it  we  should  weigh  every 
word.  Every  idle  word  that  men  speak,  says  Christ, 
they  shall  give  account  thereof  in  the  day  of  judg- 
ment. And  the  day  of  judgment  takes  place  now  and 
here.  The  day  of  judgment  is  the  time  when  every 
action  produces  its  natural  results.  Schiller  says  : 

"  Die  Weltgeschichte, 
1st  das  Weltgerichte." 


4i4  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

"  History  is  the  judgment  of  nations,"  and  the  his- 
tory of  every  person  is  his  life  and  future  fate.  And 
in  addition  to  this  fate  during  life-time,  the  day  of 
judgment  is  the  blessing  that  later  on  will  attend 
every  good  deed  and  the  curses  that  will  inevitably 
follow  upon  every  bad  action. 

Who  is  so  vile  as  to  be  indifferent  to  the  effects  of 
his  life  after  he  has  passed  away  ?  Who  is  so  base  as 
not  to  care  whether  the  effects  of  his  actions  shall  or 
shall  not  prove  a  curse  to  humanity?  We  ought  to 
consider  how  posterity  will  judge  of  our  actions  after 
we  are  gone  and  what  we  would  think  of  ourselves 
when,  in  the  peaceful  rest  of  the  grave,  we  hope  for 
neither  personal  advantages  nor  disadvantages. 

We  ought  to  reason  from  the  standpoint  of  the  pro- 
gressive spirit  in  a  future  humanity.  These  consider- 
ations should  be  among  the  strongest  of  the  motives 
that  determine  our  actions. 

The  communism  of  soul-life  is  not  limited  to  the 
present  generation  ;  it  extends  to  the  past  as  well  as  to 
the  future.  The  present  generation  of  humanity  is 
like  the  present  generation  of  live  corals  who  have 
grown  from,  and  rest  upon,  the  work  of  former  genera- 
tions. The  ancestors  of  the  corals  now  on  the  surface 
lived  in  the  shallow  places  of  the  ocean,  where  the  sun 
made  the  waters  warm  and  the  surf  afforded  them  suf- 
ficient food  ;  and  when  in  the  lapse  of  time  through 
terrestrial  changes  the  bottom  on  which  they  had  set- 
tled, sank  slowly  deeper  and  deeper,  they  built  higher 
and  higher,  and  in  this  way  they  managed  to  keep 
near  the  surface.  The  branches  in  the  cold  deep  wa- 
ters are  now  dead  ;  yet  they  furnish  a  solid  basis  to 
the  coral  life  above,  where  the  sun  shines  and  the 
currents  of  the  surf  pass  to  and  fro. 


COMMUNISM  OF  SOUL- LIFE.  415 

If  the  corals  could  think  and  speak,  I  wonder 
whether  the  living  generation  on  the  surface  would 
not  rail  at  the  corals  in  the  cold  deep  below  !  At  least 
the  present  human  generation  very  often  does.  Those 
who  feel  the  necessity  of  progress,  who  wish  humanity 
to  remain  uppermost  and  to  rise  higher,  are  apt  to 
overlook  the  merits  of  their  ancestors  ;  they  observe 
that  the  ideas  of  former  generations  are  antiquated  and 
do  no  longer  fit  into  the  present  time.  Thus  they 
brand  the  old  views  as  superstitions  and  forget  that 
the  views  of  the  present  generation  have  developed 
from  the  old,  and  that  they  stand  upon  their  ancestors' 
work.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  dead  corals  in  the  cold 
dreary  deep  must  have  been  always  unfit  for  life  ;  yet 
there  was  a  time  when  their  coral  homes  thrilled  with 
life  ;  and  so  there  was  a  time  when  the  superstitions  of 
to-day  were  true  science  and  true  religion  although 
they  are  now  dreary  and  cold. 

Where  is  the  coral  life  of  the  past  ?  Has  it  disap- 
peared ?  It  has  not  disappeared;  but  continued,  and 
its  continuation  is  the  coral  life  of  to-day.  So  the 
humanity  of  former  generations  has  not  disappeared. 
The  life  of  humanity  continued,  and  lo  !  it  is  present 
in  every  one  of  us.  We  may  reproach  our  ancestors 
for  mistakes,  but  whenever  we  reproach  them,  we  re- 
proach ourselves. 

We  wish  to  be  individuals,  and  flatter  ourselves 
that  we  are  quite  original.-  Goethe  explains  in  a  little 
poem  that  the  different  features  of  his  character  are  de- 
rived from  his  parents  and  grandparents.  All  together 
make  up  his  character.  He  concludes  : 

"  Since  from  the  complex  you  cannot 
The  elements  extract. 


416  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

What  is  in  man,  that  will  remain 
Original  in  fact."* 

It  is  vanity  to  think  that  we  are  something  by  our- 
selves. By  vanity  we  understand  a  conceit  which  at- 
taches a  special  value  to  Self.  It  is  an  inflation  of  the 
ego,  of  a  something  which  is  erroneously  supposed  to 
be  quite  individual  and  original.  This  pride  is  always 
ridiculous,  because  Self  by  itself  is  a  mere  nothing  :  it 
is  a  hollow  bubble  ;  and  pride  of  Self  is  therefore  cor- 
rectly called  vanity,  which  means  emptiness:  Our 
spiritual  existence  is  an  inheritance.  We  are  a  "  tra- 
dition," as  Goethe  says  in  another  little  poem,  in 
which  he  depicts  the  vanity  of  the  boast  to  rid  one- 
self of  tradition.  He  says  : 

"  Would  from  tradition  free  myself, 
Original  I'd  be  t 
Yet  great  the  undertaking  is 
And  trouble  it  heaps  on  me. 

"  Were  I  indigenous,  I  should 
Consider  the  honor  high, 
But  strange  enough  !  it  is  the  truth, 
Tradition  myself  am  I." 

["Gernwar  ich  Ueberliefrung  los 

Und  ganz  original ; 
Doch  ist  das  Unternehmen  gross 
Und  fiihrt  zu  mancher  Qual. 


*  Of  this  poem  the  beginning  is  better  known  than  its  conclusion.  It  reads 
in  the  original : 

"  Vom  Vater  hab'  ich  die  Statur, 
Des  Lebens  ernstes  Fuhren, 
Von  Miitterchen  die  Frohnatur 
Und  Lust  zu  fabuliren. 

Urahnherr  war  der  Schonsten  hold, 

Das  spukt  so  hin  und  wieder, 
Urahnfrau  liebte  Schmuck  und  Gold, 

Das  zuckt  wohl  durch  die  Glieder. 

Sind  nun  die  Elemente  nicht 

Aus  dem  Complex  zu  trennen, 
Was  ist  denn  an  dem  ganzen  Wicht 

Original  zu  nennen  ? 


COMMUNISM  OF  SOUL- LIFE.  417 

Als  Autochthone  rechnet'  ich 

Es  mir  zur  hochsten  Ehre, 
Wenn  ich  nicht  gar  zu  wunderlich 

Selbst  Ueberliefrung  ware."] 

There  is  nothing  in  us,  but  we  owe  it  to  humanity  ; 
for  all  soul-life  is  based  upon  communism.  We  can- 
not entirely  escape  its  evil  consequences,  but  neither 
can  we  entirely  forfeit  its  blessings,  and  the  blessings 
are  greater  than  its  curses. 


SOUL-LIFE  AND  THE  PRESERVATION  OF  FORM. 


MAN  is  not  the  sum  of  the  material  particles  of 
which  at  any  given  moment  he  consists.  Every  man  is 
a  special  form  that  has  taken  shape  in  matter  ;  and 
the  material  particles  are  not  the  really  essential 
elements  that  make  him  what  he  is.  A  man  might 
have  eaten  the  meat  intended  for  his  dog,  and  the 
dog  might  have  gotten  the  piece  that  his  master 
ate.  And  so,  too,  the  dog  might  have  breathed  the 
air  that  the  man  breathed,  and  vice  versa.  But  that 
would  have  made  no  difference  in  the  assimilation  by 
each  of  the  material  particles  in  question.  In  man's 
stomach  they  go  through  the  process  of  being  changed 
into  human  flesh  and  blood,  while  that  nutriment  on 
which  an  animal  has  fed  will  become  part  of  the 
animal. 

This  appears  wonderful ,  and  yet  the  principle 
obviously  accords  with  the  simple  law  of  mechanics. 
Materials  can  be  shaped,  mechanically,  into  certain 
forms.  The  shape  of  a  bronze  figure  depends  upon 
the  mould  into  which  the  metal  is  poured,  and  the 
products  of  a  machine,  be  they  nails,  or  pins,  or 
needles,  or  books,  or  newspapers,  or  hardware,  de- 
pend upon  the  mechanism  of  the  machine.  The  form 
of  the  machine  produces  a  special  form  of  movement, 
for  the  movement  of  the  cogs  and  wheels  will  follow 
the  grooves  and  other  mechanical  contrivances ;  and 


PRESER  VA  TION  OF  FORM.  4 1 9 

upon  the  form  of  the  movements  necessarily  the  form 
of  the  product  depends. 

The  process  of  changing  food  into  flesh  and  blood 
is  immeasurably  more  complicated  than  the  work  of  a 
machine,  yet  the  basis  of  mechanical  law  is  the  same 
in  both.  The  difference  of  form  in  the  product  can 
depend  solely  upon  the  difference  of  the  mechanisms. 
In  the  living  mechanisms  of  organized  substances,  in 
plants,  in  animals  and  in  man,  we  can,  with  the 
microscopical  methods  at  our  disposal,  recognize  the 
rudest  and  roughest  features  only  of  the  mechanical 
differences  in  the  innumerable  parts  which  contribute 
to  shape  the  sap  of  trees  and  the  blood  of  animals. 
And  these  differences  of  form  are  the  problems  of 
scientific  investigation.  We  can  appreciate  the  differ- 
ences in  the  result,  (say  for  instance  between  an  animal 
brain  and  a  human  brain,)  we  know  also  much  about 
the  conditions  which  produced  these  different  results, 
yet  we  know  little  about  the  mechanical  details  of  or- 
ganisms, i.  e.,  how  the  living  machines  of  animals  and 
plants  assimilate  food.  But  we  have  sufficient  evi- 
dence to  believe,  that  the  process  is  in  full  agreement 
with  mechanical  laws,  and  that  the  problem  is  merely 
a  problem  of  form. 

Man's  soul  does  not  consist  of  matter ;  nor  can  it 
be  a  substance  like  matter,  such  as  are  fluids  or  gaseous 
and  ether-like  substances.  Conceptions,  that  mate- 
rialize the  soul,  are  the  materialistic  views  of  spirit- 
ists. It  is  not  matter  which  makes  of  us  that  which 
we  are,  it  is  not  substance,  but  form  ;  and  the  forma- 
tion of  a  man's  life  does  not  commence  with  his  birth, 
nor  does  it  end  with  his  death. 

Our  material  existence  is  constantly  changing,  and 
yet  we  remain  the  same  persons  to-day  that  we  were 


4.20  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

yesterday.  How  is  this?  It  is  because  man's  life 
consists  not  of  his  material  presence  alone,  but  of  his 
formal  being,  and  his  formal  being  shows  relatively 
more  continuity  than  his  material  existence.  There  is 
a  law  of  the  conservation  of  matter  and  energy,  but 
there  is  another  law  of  no  less  importance,  which  I 
will  call  the  law  of  the  preservation  of  form. 

We  call  it  preservation  and  not  conservation,  in 
order  to  mark  the  difference  between  the  two  laws. 
Matter  and  energy  are  indestructible,  but  all  special 
forms  are  destructible,  they  are  not  conserved  in  their 
kind  or  amount.  Yet  they  are  preserved;  they  remain 
as  they  are  according  to  the  law  of  inertia  until  changes 
take  place  which  do  not  destroy  the  present  forms, 
but  which  alter  them  in  the  measure  that  special  causes 
affect  them.  The  old  form  is  in  a  certain  sense  fully 
preserved  even  in  a  most  radical  change,  for  the  old 
form  is  one  of  the  elements  in  the  change.  It  maybe 
destroyed  in  all  that  gives  value  to  it ;  its  trace  can  be- 
come infinitesimal;  yet  being  one  of  the  factors  in 
causation  it  can  never  be  blotted  out  entirely. 

The  changeability  of  form  constitutes  what  we  call 
evolution.  Evolution  indeed  means  ' change  of  form 
according  to  certain  laws.'  Laws  of  form  are  geomet- 
rically demonstrable,  and  laws  of  the  changes  of  form 
can  be  ultimately  accounted  for  with  mathematical 
precision. 

In  Dr.  Johannes  Ranke's  most  excellent  work  on 
anthropology*  man  and  mankind  are  compared  to  a 
wave.  A  wave  appears  to  the  eye  as  a  material  unit. 
Its  form  travels  along  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  ever 
one  and  the  same  ;  but  its  substance  is  constantly 
changing.  It  is  the  mere  expression  of  a  number  of 

*  Dr.  Johannes  Ranke:  Der  Mensch,  p.  i. 


PRESER  VA  TION  OF  FORM.  42 1 

rhythmical  motions,  and  there  are  not  two  consecutive 
moments  in  which  the  constituent  particles  are  the 
same.  The  drops  which  one  moment  are  seized  by  the 
approaching  wave,  rise  in  the  next  to  its  crest  and 
then  glide  gently  back  on  the  other  side  of  the  billow 
to  the  quiet  surface  of  the  ocean. 

The  body  of  the  wave  is  formed  by  the  particles  of 
water  which  enter  into  and  pass  through  the  wave. 
Similarly  the  human  body,  like  a  wave  of  water,  is  a 
certain  form  of  rhythmical  motions.  Material  elements, 
the  air  we  breathe,  the  food  we  take,  are  seized  upon, 
only  to  pass  through  and  leave  the  body,  whose  form 
continues  and  appears  to  the  uninitiated  as  the  same 
material  unit. 

The  same  simile  is  true  of  mankind  as  a  whole. 
The  activity  of  the  human  race,  as  we  observe  it  in 
history,  rolls  onward  like  a  huge  wave  over  the  surface 
of  the  habitable  globe.  It  incorporates  and  transforms 
the  organic  materials  in  its  way  only  to  give  them 
back  to  the  ocean  of  unorganized  material  existence 
from  which  they  were  taken.  In  the  onward  course 
of  human  evolution,  the  generations  of  which  it  con- 
sists rise  into  existence  and  sink  back  as  the  wave  of 
humanity  rolls  on.  The  generation  of  to-day  is  differ- 
ent from  the  generations  of  former  centuries,  but 
humanity  is  one  continuous  whole  throughout  all  of 
them.  It  began  with  the  origin  of  life  on  our  planet, 
and  its  onward  movement  will  continue  as  long  as  the 
organic  substance  of  the  earth  can  afford  sufficient 
material  to  renew  its  form. 

In  all  the  material  changes  that  organized  bodies 
undergo,  there  is  a  preservation  of  their  forms.  An 
impression  once  made  will  remain,  as  a  wound  once 
received  will  preserve  the  scar.  The  new  formation 


422  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

of  the  ever  changing  tissues  will  be  made  in  the  shape 
which  they  possess.  Scars  will  in  time  become  in- 
visible, but  they  will  never  be  effaced  entirely.  A  sen- 
sation that  has  been  once  perceived  will  leave  some 
trace  in  the  tissues  of  the  living  brain,  and  the  form 
of  this  trace  will  not  be  effaced  amid  the  change  of 
matter  that  the  nervous  substance  constantly  under- 
goes. It  will  be  preserved ;  and  as  soon  as,  through 
the  stimulus  of  nervous  action,  it  is  again  excited,  the 
sensation  will  be  revived,  although  it  will  be  weaker 
than  it  was  when  it  first  impressed  itself.  If  the  sen- 
sation be  strong  enough  it  will  be  felt  again,  and  may 
be  accompanied  more  or  less  intensely  with  conscious- 
ness. Thus  the  preservation  of  form  accounts  for 
the  continuity  of  memory. 

The  identity  of  memory-structures  does  not  de- 
pend upon  an  identity  of  the  very  same  material  par- 
ticles, but  upon  an  identity  of  form  in  tissues  of  the 
same  kind.  Nervous  substance  is  the  most  unstable, 
and  its  material  changes  are  the  most  rapid  of  all.  It 
is  therefore  all  but  impossible  that  in  the  constant  flux 
of  matter,  the  continuance  of  memory  should  be  at- 
tached to  the  material  particles.  It  is  a  continuance 
of  form  only,  just  as  a  fountain  preserves  its  form  du- 
ring the  uninterrupted  change  of  the  water.  The 
fountain-jet  remains  the  same  and  we  consider  it  in 
different  moments  as  the  same  not  otherwise  than 
ourselves,  because  in  the  flux  of  its  material  constitu- 
ents, its  form  remains  constant. 

The  solution  of  the  problem  of  memory,  accord- 
ingly, solves  the  problem  of  the  personality  of  man 
also.  The  personality  of  man  and  the  continuity  of 
his  soul-life,  can  find  their  explanation  only  in  the 
preservation  of  all  the  living  forms  of  his  organism. 


PRESERVATION  OF  FORM.  423 

Supposing  that  all  motions  of  material  elements  are 
accompanied  by  elements  of  feeling,  we  then  under- 
stand how  feeling,  as  a  special  combination  of  its  ele- 
ments under  special  circumstances  can  originate  in 
organized  substance.  Further,  we  understand  how 
from  simple  and  dim  feelings  specialized  sensations 
evolve  as  a  kind  of  articulated  feeling,  and  these 
sensations  naturally  become  representatives  of  the 
objects  which  occasion  them.  When  we  notice  in 
a  number  of  sensations  their  common  features,  and  ob- 
serve their  differences,  we  begin  to  think,  and  we  learn 
to  classify  things  around  us  under  abstract  terms. 
Thus  we  understand  how  the  soul  of  man  with  its 
wonderful  structures  rises  into  existence,  building  one 
tier  above  the  other,  and  culminating  in  an  organ  of 
co-ordination  which  makes  a  comparison  and  unifica- 
tion of  all  the  elements  of  soul-life  possible. 

Man's  soul  was  formed  in  the  course  of  the  evo- 
lution of  the  human  race,  by  the  reactions  upon  the 
external  influences  of  the  surrounding  world,  and  the 
present  man  is  the  outcome  of  the  entire  activity  of  his 
ancestors.  Thus  every  one  of  us  can  say  with  Christ  : 
"Before  Abraham  was,  I  am."  Every  one  of  us  be- 
gan his  life  with  the  beginning  of  all  life  upon  earth. 
We  are  the  generation  in  which  the  huge  billow  of 
human  life  now  culminates.  We,  ourselves,  are  that 
billow,  our  real  self,  our  spiritual  existence  will  con- 
tinue to  progress  in  that  great  wave. 

Our  existence  after  death  will  not  merely  be  a 
dissolution  into  the  All,  where  all  individual  features 
of  our  spiritual  existence  are  destroyed.  Our  exist- 
ence after  death  will  be  a  continuance  of  our  individ- 
ual spirituality,  a  continuance  of  our  thoughts  and 
ideals.  As  sure  as  the  law  of  cause  and  effect  is  true, 


424  THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 

so  sure  is  the  continuance  of  soul-life  even  after  the 
death  of  the  individual  according  to  the  law  of  the 
preservation  of  form. 


THE  OLD  AND  NEW  PSYCHOLOGY. 


WHEN  the  wonderful  workings  of  electricity  were 
first  discovered,  electricity  was  considered  as  a  sub- 
stance, as  a  kind  of  an  ethereal  fluid  that  permeated 
bodies.  And  the  very  terms  used  by  our  scientists 
to-day  still  show  traces  of  this  error.  We  now  con- 
ceive electricity  to  be  a  certain  mode  of  motion  rap- 
idly transmitted  from  atom  to  atom,  we  no 'longer  be- 
lieve in  a  special  electrical  substance  that  flows  through 
bodies  ;  and  yet  we  retain  the  expression  "electrical 
current." 

The  scientists  of  former  ages  were  wrong  with 
regard  to  the  scientific  understanding  of  the  na- 
ture of  electricity  ;  but  in  spite  of  their  errors  they 
formulated  various  laws  that  held  good  even  after 
the  error  was  corrected.  The  idea  that  electricity  is 
a  current  served  as  a  simile,  which  in  many  respects 
is  so  appropriate  that  even  now  our  professors  have 
to  fall  back  on  it  in  their  explanations  and  probably 
always  will,  although  they  have  to  add  the  special 
warning  not  to  take  the  simile  for  more  than  it  is 
worth. 

Suppose  that  in  former  centuries  you  had  come 
upon  two  opposed  views,  the  one  of  a  scientist  who 
declared  that  electricity  existed  as  a  substance,  and 
the  other  of  a  man  who  maintained  that  electricity 
could  not  possibly  be  a  substance,  and  that  it  did  not 


426  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

exist  at  all.  On  which  side  would  there  have  been 
more  truth  ?  Unquestionably  on  the  former. 

Now  the  old  psychology  of  former  centuries  con- 
sidered the  soul  as  consisting  of  a  special  substance, 
a  kind  of  ethereal  fluid  endowed  with  several  mys- 
tical qualities.  Modern  psychology,  not  unlike  mod- 
ern science  in  other  fields,  now  comes  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  there  is  no  special  soul-substance ;  the  soul 
is  but  a  special  form  of  life.  The  old  psychologists, 
however,  were  not  entirely  wrong,  for  they  committed 
an  error  that  was  natural  in  the  evolution  of  psycho- 
logical truths.  Their  views  were  after  all  more  cor- 
rect than  the  views  of  their  adversaries,  who,  objecting 
to  the  existence  of  a  soul  substance,  denied  the  ex- 
istence of  the  soul  altogether.  The  old  psychologists 
discovered  some  of  the  laws  of  soul-life,  and  also  de- 
rived from  them  certain  principles  which  they  laid 
down  as  rules  of  moral  conduct  and  which  will  remain 
true  forever. 

There  is  a  strange  objection  made  to  the  new  view 
of  modern  psychology.  "  If  the  soul,"  it  is  said,  "  is 
no  entity,  but  the  form  of  living  and  feeling  substance, 
how  can  you  speak  of  the  importance  of  soul-life  ? 
The  declaration  that  the  soul  is  not  a  substance  is 
equivalent  to  the  statement  that  the  soul  does  not 
exist." 

Are  we  to  say  of  a  flame  that  it  does  not  exist  be- 
cause we  have  ceased  to  believe  in  a  special  fire-stuff, 
the  phlogiston,  which  some  time  ago  was  supposed 
to  be  a  substance  endowed  with  certain  mysterious 
qualities  that  manifested  themselves  in  the  phenome- 
non of  a  flame?  Is  a  flame  not  a  reality  also  to  us 
who  know  that  fire  is  a  special  form  of  motion. 

The   old    psychologists  who  to-day  still  form   the 


THE  OLD  AND  NEW  PSYCHOLOGY.     427 

majority  and  of  whom  many  will  survive  for  a  long 
time  to  come,  look  upon  the  new  view  with  suspicion 
and  say  that  it  is  a  psychologyrwithout  a  soul,  that  is 
to  say,  without  a  soul  consisting  of  soul-stuff.  So  the 
old  physicists  with  the  same  plausibility  might  have  ob- 
jected to  modern  physicists  that  according  to  their 
conception,  flames  are  fire  without  fire-stuff.  And  is 
it  not  strange  that  the  old  psychologists  arraign  the 
modern  view  as  materialistic  ?  Is  not  rather  the  old 
view  materialistic,  which  conceives  the  spiritual  as  a 
substance — a  kind  of  ethereal  and  purified  matter? 
We  however  regard  the  new  view  as  a  redemption 
from  the  cruder  and  materialistic  conception  of  soul- 
life. 

The  physicians  of  the  soul  are  the  ethical  teachers 
of  mankind.  The  task  of  a  Confucius,  of  a  Buddha, 
of  a  Christ,  was  the  practical  psychology  of  soul-pre- 
servation, and  it  is  natural  that  experience  should 
have  taught  them  many  important  truths,  which,  as 
represented  by  every  one  of  the  great  moral  teachers, 
agree  among  themselves  almost  as  much  as  arithmetic 
in  English  agrees  with  arithmetic  in  French  and  Ger- 
man. There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  many  respects 
these  ethical  teachers,  and  more  so  their  disciples, 
were  greatly  mistaken  as  to  the  nature  of  the  soul. 
Nevertheless  we  inherited  from  them  spiritual  treas- 
ures more  valuable  than  material  wealth.  By  these 
spiritual  treasures  we  mean  chiefly  the  ethical  truths 
which  in  the  change  of  position  caused  by  a  progress 
of  the  science  of  the  soul,  remain  intact  and  will  find 
corrections  in  unessential  points  only. 

The  progress  of  psychology  however  is  marked  by 
the  fact,  that  while  the  moral  truths  had  to  be  looked 
upon  in  former  times  as  unexplainable,  and  thus  were 


428  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

supposed  to  be  of  supernatural  origin,  we  now  can 
show  their  natural  growth  and  base  them  upon  a 
strictly  scientific  foundation. 

Modern  psychology  must  recognize  the  truth  that 
it  is  developed  from  the  old  psychology.  Although 
the  new  view  stands  in  one  essential  point  in  vivid 
contrast  with  the  old  view,  the  new  is  the  legitimate 
outcome  from  the  old,  not  otherwise  than  modern 
chemistry  is  from  the  old  phlogistum  chemistry;  and 
modern  psychology  has  accordingly  the  right  and  the 
duty  to  enter  upon  the  inheritance  of  the  spiritual  treas- 
ures gathered  by  its  ancestors. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGICAL  PROBLEM  AND 
RELIGION. 


BY  religion  must  be  understood  a  conception  of  the 
universe  that  shall  serve  as  a  guide  through  life,  as  a 
regulative  principle  of  conduct,  as  a  basis  of  ethics. 
There  are,  accordingly,  two  elements  in  religion  :  tne 
one  of  knowledge,  the  other  of  action.  It  is  necessary 
that  we  have  a  knowledge  of  what  the  world  is  in 
which  we  live,  and  of  what  the  laws  are  that  consti- 
tute its  cosmic  order.  This  knowledge  must  find  a 
practical  application.  It  must  encourage  us  to  submit 
willingly  to  that  which  is  necessary,  however  hard  it 
may  be,  and  to  comply  cheerfully  with  the  demands 
that  are  founded  in  the  nature  of  things. 

Our  view  of  the  world  for  religious  purposes  need 
not  be  the  accurate  science  of  the  naturalist;  a  concep- 
tion of  the  universe  in  most  general  outlines  is  suffi- 
cient. Yet  we  must  not  forget  that  a  clear  and  definite 
idea  of  the  sociological  law  that  regulates  the  relations 
between  man  and  man  and  thus  produces  human 
society,  is  the  most  important  and  indispensable  part 
of  it.  The  laws  of  nature,  in  this  sense,  include  the 
laws  of  spiritual,  emotional,  and  intellectual  soul  life. 

Since  natural  laws  remain  the  same,  from  eternity 
to  eternity,  it  is  thus  apparent  that  religion  has  in  it 
an  element  of  immutability  which  makes  it  impossible 
that  there  can  be  more  than  one  true  religion.  Yet 


430  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

since  man's  knowledge  of  natural  laws  has  to  undergo 
a  constant  evolution,  his  religious  ideals,  consequently, 
also  grow  and  expand  step  by  step  with  his  scientific 
progress.  And  religious  progress  has  always  lagged 
and  still  lags  a  little  behind  scientific  progress  ;  for 
moral  instructors  are  necessarily  of  a  conservative  turn 
of  mind  and  slow  to  accept  new  truths  which  have  not 
as  yet  passed  through  all  the  crucial  tests  of  a  critical 
examination. 

Luther  certainly  was  a  progressive  spirit,  a  bold 
and  courageous  man,  who  for  the  sake  of  truth  feared 
neither  the  fagot  of  the  inquisition  nor  the  ban  of  the 
Pope.  And  yet  how  narrow-minded  was  Luther's 
opinion  of  his  great  countryman  and  contemporary, 
Copernicus.  We  read  in  Luther's  Table  Talk: 

"  Mention  was  made  of  a  contemporary  astrologus  who  wanted 
to  prove  that  the  earth  moved  and  turned  about,  but  not  the 
Heavens,  nor  the  Firmament,  nor  Sun,  nor  Moon  ;  just  as  when 
a  person  is  seated  in  a  wagon  or  on  a  boat  and  is  in  motion,  and 
fancies  he  is  sitting  still  and  at  rest  while  the  earth  and  trees  do 
seem  to  pass  along  and  be  in  motion.  But  the  whole  matter  is  just 
this  :  whensoever  a  person  means  to  be  clever,  he  must  perforce 
make  up  something  of  his  own,  which  has  to  be  the  best  that  is, 
just  as  he  makes  it.  This  fool  will  upset  the  whole  Science 
Astronomic.  But  the  holy  Scriptures  tell  us,  Joshua  bade  the  Sun 
stand  still  and  not  the  Earth." 

It  is  perhaps  natural  that  every  new  discovery  in 
science  should  apparently  threaten  to  destroy  the  very 
basis  of  religion.  But  it  turns  out  quite  different  as 
soon  as  men's  minds  get  accustomed  to  the  new  con- 
ception of  things.  What  has  been  destroyed  by  sci- 
ence, it  then  appears,  was  after  all  a  childish  error 
only.  The  world  becomes  greater  and  grander  through 
an  expansion  of  our  conception  of  the  world,  and  re- 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  RELIGION.          431 

ligion  reaps  the  fruit  of  the  scientist's  work ;  religion 
is  purified,  spiritualized,  and  meliorated. 

At  the  present  time  a  new  problem  is  again  pre- 
sented to  religion — a  problem  which  ought  not  and 
cannot  be  blinked  by  the  clergy.  This  problem  shakes 
our  religious  conceptions  to  their  foundation,  for  it 
concerns  the  object  and  purpose  of  all  religious  work— 
the  human  soul.  Religion  being  a  guide  through  life 
and  a  regulative  principle  of  conduct,  what  is  it  but  a 
means  devised  for  the  salvation  of  souls? 

Modern  psychology  throws  a  new  light  upon  the 
nature  of  the  soul.  The  soul  was  in  former  times  and 
is  still  by  many  people  conceived  to  be  a  mysterious 
being  that  is  in  possession  of  a  certain  stock  of  ideas. 
This  mysterious  being,  the  centre  of  man's  spiritual  ex- 
istence, is  called  the  Ego  or  the  Me ;  it-  is  the  subject  in 
the  "I  think,"  the  agent  that  does  the  thinking ;  and  the 
assumption  of  this  ego  has  constituted  the  corner-stone 
of  the  most  prominent  philosophies  since  Descartes. 
Descartes  pronounced  the  famous  dictum  Cogito  ergo 
sum — "I  think,  therefore  I  am"  ;  and  this  sentence  has 
for  two  centuries  been  considered  as  the  axiom  of 
philosophy.  Yet  Kant  objected  to  its  so-called  self- 
evidence.  He  denounced  it  as  a  fallacy.  The  existence 
cf  the  I  or  Ego,  which  is  to  be  proved  in  the  conclusion 
ergo  ego  sum,  says  Kant,  has  been  assumed  in  the 
premise  ego  cogito. 

Kant  who  owes  so  much  to  David  Hume  most 
likely  followed  a  hint  of  the  great  Scottish  thinker  who 
said  : 

' '  As  for  me,  whenever  I  contemplate  what  is-  inmost  in  what  I 
call  my  own  self,  I  always  come  in  contact  with  such  or  such  spe- 
cial perception  as  of  cold,  heat,  light  or  shadow,  love  or  hate, 
pleasure  or  pain.  I  never  come  unawares  upon  my  mind  existing 


432  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

in  a  state  void  of  perceptions  :  I  never  observe  aught  save  percep- 
tion  If  any  one,  after  serious  reflection  and  without  preju- 
dices, thinks  he  has  any  other  idea  of  himself,  I  confess  that  I  can 
reason  no  longer  with  him.  The  best  I  can  say  for  him  is  that  per- 
haps he  is  right  no  less  than  I,  and  that  on  this  point  our  natures 
are  essentially  different.  It  is  possible  that  he  may  perceive  some- 
thing simple  and  permanent  which  he  calls  himself,  but  as  for  me 
I  am  quite  sure  I  possess  no  such  principle." 

Hume's  view  is  a  negation  of  the  ego  as  a  constant 
and  immutable  centre  of  the  soul.  The  soul  is  recog- 
nized as  a  combination  of  many  ideas,  and  the  ultimate 
elements  of  soul-life  are  the  simple  feelings  of  nervous 
irritations  with  the  reflex-actions  resulting  therefrom. 
The  centre  of  our  soul-life,  the  present  state  of  con- 
sciousness or  the  subject  of  the  act  of  thinking,  is  not  at 
all  a  mysterious  agent  distinct  from  the  different  ideas 
that  are  thought,  but  it  is  the  very  idea  itself  that  is 
thought.  The  ego  is  not  a  constant  and  immutable  cen- 
tre, but  it  shifts  about  and  brings  into  active  play, 
now  this  and  now  that  concept  or  wish  ;  so  that  now 
this  and  now  another  feeling,  or  thought,  or  desire  is 
awakened  and  stirred  into  prominence. 

We  distinguish  between  the  ego,  or  the  present 
state  of  consciousness,  in  its  continuity  with  former  as 
well  as  future  states  of  consciousness,  and  the  con- 
cept of  our  own  personality.  The  idea  of  our  own 
personality  is  a  complex  conception  of  our  bodily  form, 
of  our  past  experiences,  and  of  all  our  future  inten- 
tions. It  is  comprised  under  the  little  pronoun  "  I  ". 
The  idea  of  one's  own  personality  is  among  all  the 
ideas  of  a  man  perhaps  the  most  important  one, 
because  of  its  constant  recurrence.  Yet  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  as  an  idea  it  is  not  different  from 
any  other  idea,  representing  other  personalities  or 
objects  in  the  surrounding  universe.  If  this  con- 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  RELIGION.         433 

cept  of  one's  own  personality  is  stirred  in  a  man  in 
combination  with  the  idea  of  a  certain  work  which  is 
carried  out  by  his  hands,  the  thought  rises  in  his  brain, 
"I  am  doing  this,"  or  "I  am  thinking  this,"  "I  am 
planning  this."  In  such  a  case,  accordingly,  the  ego 
of  a  man  happens  to  coincide  at  the  moment  with  the 
idea  of  his  personality.  At  the  next  moment,  how- 
ever, he  may  have  forgotten  all  about  himself,  i.  e., 
about  his  personality;  and  his  ego,  i.  e.,  the  present 
state  of  his  consciousness,  may  be  wholly  absorbed  in 
his  work.  For  instance,  he  is  felling  a  tree  and 
thinks,  Will  it  fall  to  the  right  or  to  the  left  ?  His  ego, 
in  that  case,  resides  in  the  contemplation  of  the  tree 
before  him  which  is  combined  with  the  consideration 
as  to  where  it  is  likely  to  break  down.  There  is  not 
an  ego  which  thinks  of  the  tree  in  its  special  predica- 
ment, but  the  idea  of  the  tree  is  the  ego  at  that  mo- 
ment. 

Lichtenberg  very  wittily  remarked  :  "We  should 
say,  'It  thinks,'  just  as  well  as  we  say  'It  lightens,' 
or  'It  rains.'  In  saying  cogito  the  philosopher  goes 
too  far  if  he  translates  it  '  I  think. '  " 

This  conception  of  the  nature  of  man's  ego  has 
been  generally  accepted  by  psychologists.  The  recent 
investigations  of  experimental  psychology  carried  on  in 
France  by  Charcot,  Th,  Ribot,  Alfred  Binet,  and 
others,  and  of  physiological  psychology  in  Germany,  in- 
augurated by  Fechner,  and  perfected  by  Wundt  and 
his  school,  have  only  served  to  corroborate  the  funda- 
mental truth  of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  independent 
ego  aside  from  the  various  thoughts  of  a  man.  Man's 
mind  is  a  society  of  ideas,  of  which  now  'the  one  and 
now  the  other  constitutes  his  ego. 

This  discovery  appears  at  first  sight  appalling.     It 


434  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

destroys,  it  would  seem,  the  human  soul  itself,  and  it 
is  not  at  all  astonishing  that  the  clergy  are  shocked, 
that  they  abhor  the  outcome  of  psychical  researches 
and  speak  of  the  new  psychology  as  "a  psychology 
without  a  soul." 

.It  is  not  at  all  astonishing  that  people  and  espe- 
cially the  clergy  are  shocked ;  for  the  situation  in  our 
scientific  conception  of  the  soul  is  as  thoroughly  al- 
tered as  our  conception  of  the  universe  was  in  the 
times  of  Copernicus  when  the  geocentric  standpoint 
had  to  be  abandoned.  It  took  some  time  ere  people 
could  accustom  themselves  to  the  idea  that  they  whirled 
through  space  with  a  rotatory  motion  of  nineteen  miles 
a  secpnd.  When  trying  to  think  of  it  they  became 
dizzy ;  Nature  appeared  to  be  deprived  of  her  dignity, 
for  if  matters  were  as  Copernicus  said,  all  fixedness, 
all  solidity  and  stability  seemed  lost  forever  in  the 
material  as  well  as  in  the  moral  world. 


* 
*  * 


Modern  psychology  will  influence  the  religious  de- 
velopment of  humanity  in  no  less  a  degree  than  did 
modern  astronomy.  At  first  sight  the  new  truth  seems 
to  destroy  the  soul  itself ;  but  it  does  not.  It  destroys 
a  false  view  only  of  the  ego. 

To  those  who  have  not  as  yet  fully  grasped  the 
new  conception  it  appears  difficult  to  renounce  the 
ego-centric  standpoint.  However,  a  closer  acquaint- 
ance with  the  modern  solution  of  the  problems  of  soul- 
life  shows  that  instead  of  destroying  religion  they 
place  it  upon  a  firmer  foundation  than  it  ever  before 
possessed. 

The  new  psychology  destroys  the  dualistic  view 
of  the  soul.  The  soul  has  ceased  to  be  something  in- 
dependent of  and  distinct  from  psychical  activity. 


PSYCHOLOGY  AND  RELIGION.        435 

The  new  view  is  monistic  :  it  regards  the  soul  as  iden- 
tical with  its  activity  ;  the  human  soul  consists  of  man's 
feelings  and  thoughts,  his  fears  and  hopes,  his  wishes 
and  ideals. 

With  the  psychology  of  dualism  an  individualistic 
error  is  destroyed.  The  soul  ceases  to  be  identical  with 
the  ego,  and  the  individual  can  no  longer  be  considered 
as  '  the  little  God  upon  earth  '  for  whom  all  things  are 
created,  who  from  the  moment  of  birth  will  remain 
unchanged  into  eternity.  He  is  no  longer  the  myste- 
rious agent  behind  the  many  different  phenomena  of 
psychic  growth  and  soul-life.  But  while  destroying 
this  metaphysical  superstition,  modern  psychology 
does  not  at  all  deprive  the  human  soul  of  its  worth, 
its  dignity,  and  its  nobility.  The  human  soul  remains 
as  great  and  noble,  as  precious  and  holy,  as  it  ever  was. 
This  wonderful  organism  of  innumerable  ideas,  of  sen- 
timents, longings,  hopes  and  fears,  wishes,  desires, 
aspirations,  and  ideals  that  reside  within  man's  brain, 
is  the  highest  and  grandest  phenomenon  of  nature 
upon  earth ;  and  the  moral  aim  of  constant!)'  improv- 
ing and  elevating  the  soul  of  man  is  rather  helped 
than  hindered  by  the  new  insight  gained  through  psy- 
chological investigation. 

Science  never  comes  to  destroy.  On  the  contrary, 
it  comes  to  purify.  Thus  the  new  psychology  frees 
our  conception  of  the  human  soul  from  an  error  which 
was  the  root  of  the  belief  in  witchcraft  and  of  many 
other  evils.  We  must  expect  that  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  facts  of  psychology  will  be  beneficial 
in  all  other  fields  of  human  activity  and  thought.  The 
solution  of  the  most  important  psychological  problem 
will  help  us  to  solve  other  problems  of  a  properly  re- 
ligious, social  and  socialistic,  philosophical  and  scien- 


436  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

tific  nature.  It  will  advance  humanity  along  the 
whole  line  of  its  brave  army  of  progressive  aspirers. 

Truth  seems  to  injure  morality  so  long  only  as  we 
have  not  as  yet  fully  grasped  the  truth.  Half  truths 
may  be  dangerous,  but  the  whole  truth  will  ever  serve 
to  purify  and  to  ameliorate.  The  psychical  problem 
is  a  new  crisis  through  which  religion  has  to  pass,  and 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  in  the  struggle  between  the  old 
view  and  the  modern  view,  between  the  popular  and 
dualistic  conception  on  the  one  side,  and  the  scientific 
and  monistic  conception  on  the  other  side,  religion  will 
come  out  not  only  unbruised  and  unimpaired,  but  even 
greater  and  nobler  and  truer  than  it  ever  has  been 
before.  Religion,  in  so  far  as  it  will  progress  with  the 
general  progress  of  science,  must  lose  all  sectarian- 
ism, all  anti-scientific  narrowmindedness,  and  broaden 
into  a  cosmic  religion.  This  cosmic  religion  will  be  a 
natural  religion,  because  it  is  founded  upon  the  laws 
of  nature.  It  will  be  the  Religion  of  Science,  because 
its  truth  rests  upon  scientific  evidence.  It  will  be 
the  only  orthodox  religion  destined  to  become  catho- 
lic among  all  thinking  mankind — orthodox  and  catho- 
lic in  the  etymological  and  proper  meaning  of  those 
words. 

The  time  of  this  religion  is  not  as  yet  come ;  but 
come  it  must.  At  present  we  can  only  give  encour- 
agement not  to  shrink  from  investigation,  but  to  in- 
quire boldly  into  the  basic  problem  of  human  exist- 
ence, of  moral  ideals,  and  of  religious  aspirations. 

Never  fear  truth,  be  it  at  first  sight  ever  so  alarm- 
ing ;  truth  will  always  lead  to  higher  planes,  to 
grander  views,  to  nobler  deeds. 


THE  SOUL  OF  THE  UNIVERSE. 


IF  we  understand  by  the  "soul  of  a  thing"  the 
formative  principle  which  gave  and  still  gives  shape 
to  it  so  as  to  make  it  the  thing  it  is,  we  use  the  word 
soul  in  quite  a  legitimate  yet  in  a  broader  sense  than 
is  usual.  *  The  laws  that  rule  the  changes  and  forma- 
tions in  the  world,  are  not  material  things,  yet  they 
are  realities  nevertheless.  When  we  call  them  reali- 
ties, we  do  not  mean  that  they  are  entities  which  exist 
of  themselves,  nor  are  they  mysterious  powers  outside 
of  or  behind  things.  They  are  in  the  things  and  are 
part  of  the  things  ;  and  it  is  through  the  mental  pro- 
cess of  abstraction  that  we  acquire  an  insight  into  them. 

The  universe  does  not  consist  of  matter  alone,  but 
of  the  relations  among  things,  the  forms  of  things,  and 
their  changes,  also.  The  so-called  laws  are  formulas 
only,  abstracted  from  many  instances  and  summing  up 
their  common  features,  so  as  to  enable  us  to  recognize 
in  a  general  survey  the  regularity  that  prevails  in  the 
innumerable  variations  of  all  the  particular  and  special 
cases.  Although  the  relations  among  things  and  their 
forms  are  not  palpable  concrete  objects,  they  are  of 
greatest  concern,  for  it  is  the  form  that  makes  a  thing 
what  it  is.  The  form  is  the  soul  of  the  thing,  and  the 
possibility  of  all  higher  life,  all  intellectual  existence, 
and  all  ethical  aspirations  depends  upon  the  evolutions 
of  forms.  The  practicability  of  ideals  rests  upon  the 

*  As  a  rule  we  understand  by  "  Soul  "  the  form  of  action  in  feeling  sub- 
stance. 


438  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

feasibility  of  a  new  arrangement  of  things,  upon  the 
possibility  of  a  re-formation  of  ourselves  as  well  as  the 
world  around  us. 

Taking  this  view  of  the  importance  of  form  and 
using  the  word  soul  to  signify  the  formative  factors  of 
the  various  forms  and  their  relations  that  have  been 
evolved  and  constantly  are  evolving  and  re-evolving  ; 
we  are  naturally  led  to  the  conception  of  a  soul  of  the 
universe.  The  soul  of  the  universe  we  call  God. 

God,  accordingly,  is  to  be  conceived  as  the  law 
that  shaped  and  is  still  shaping  the  world,  that  is 
forming  and  ever  re-forming,  evolving  and  ever  re- 
evolving  the  universe.  God  is  the  factor  that  produced 
the  solar  system  out  of  the  concourse  and  whirl  of  the 
nebula.  God  is  the  factor  that  created  vegetable  and 
animal  life  upon  earth.  He  is  the  light  of  mentality 
that  flashes  up  in  consciousness  and  finds  its  divinest 
expression  in  the  clear  thought  of  articulate  speech. 
God  is  the  moral  law  that  binds  human  society  and 
leads  it  to  ever  grander  ideals,  to  always  higher  goals 
and  aspirations.  God  in  one  word  is  the  sursum  that 
everywhere  animates  nature,  the  upward  and  forward 
tendency  that  manifests  itself  in  the  natural  growth 
of  things  and  in  the  progress  of  evolution. 

If  after  millions  of  millenniums — long  after  the  time 
when  humanity,  tired  of  life,  has  disappeared  from 
the  earth — the  solar-system  should  break  to  pieces 
and  be  scattered  as  cosmic  dust  among  the  other  solar 
systems  of  the  universe,  our  present  world  would  be 
destroyed,  but  its  life  would  not  be  extinct.  The 
scattered  parts  would  roam  about  through  cosmic  space 
as  comets.  Some  of  such  comets,  rushing,  the  one 
upon  the  other,  according  to  the  law  of  gravitation, 
wottld  blaze  out  in  a  gorgeous  conflagration  and  produce 


THE  SOUL   OF  THE   UNIVERSE.         439 

a  new  centre  of  attraction  for  the  cosmic  dust  that  is 
to  be  gathered  in  the  new-forming  nebula.  God  does 
not  die  with  the  break-up  of  a  solar  system.  The 
formative  power  of  the  universe  will  prove  itself  active 
again  and  again.  It  is  a  living  presence  indestruct- 
ible and  eternal.  The  formative  law  of  the  world  is 
as  eternal  as  are  matter  and  energy. 

In  approaching  the  idea  of  God  from  this  side  we 
gain  more  than  one  advantage  over  all  the  methods 
employed  by  other  philosophers  and  theologians.  The 
greatest  advantage  I  deem  to  be,  that  we  need  not 
give  up  the  principle  of  Positivism  (as  explained  in 
a  former  article  of  this  book)  ;  we  need  not  leave 
the  secure  and  firm  ground  of  positive  facts.  God  as 
defined  by  us  is  no  mere  fancy  of  our  mind,  no  crea- 
ture of  our  imagination.  He  is  a  reality  of  actual  life, 
a  reality  whose  presence  in  the  universe  is  as  unde- 
niable as  the  quality  of  gravity  in  matter,  and  whose 
manifestation  is  as  demonstrable  as  the  correctness  of 
the  rule  (a  +  £)2  =  a2  +  2  ab  -f  b*  in  mathematics.  \ 

We  may  mention  points  of  secondary  advantage 
also.  By  conceiving  God  as  we  do,  we  enter  the 
domain  of  science  and  can  state,  according  to  scien- 
tific methods,  what  God  is  like,  and  what  he  is  not 
like.  We  propose  positive  issues  which  can  be  in- 
vestigated and  discussed  impartially  sine  ira  ac  studio. 
We  can  arrive  at  results  based  upon  scientific  inquiry, 
results  that  are  beyond  the  trivial  impositions  of  private 
opinions  and  personal  authorities.  Private  opinions, 
suggestive  thoughts,  sermons  full  of  sentiment,  be 
they  ever  so  ingenious  and  beautiful,  are  after  all 
empty  talk  and  vain  repetitions. 

Thus  we  get  rid  of  the  useless  controversies  with 
atheists  as  well  as  with  dogmatists ;  the  latter  stating 


440  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

a-priori  that  by  an  act  of  special  revelation  they  are  in 
possession  of  the  only  true  idea  of  God,  and  the  former 
stating  a-priori  that  there  is  no  God,  because  they  do 
not  believe  in  the  God  of  the  dogmatists. 

The  objection  may  be  made  that  God  as  here  de- 
fined is  no  God,  but  a  natural  law  ;  that  he  is  a  principle 
of  all-importance,  but  not  necessarily  a  deity,  as -are 
the  gods  worshiped  by  Heathens  and  Mohammedans 
and  Christians.  To  this  objection  we  answer,  that 
whether  we  name  the  creative,  i.  e.,  the  formative, 
factor  of  the  world  God  or  not,  whether  we  call  it  the 
soul  of  the  universe  or  anything  else,  it  remains  as 
it  is,  and  indeed  it  remains  of  equal  all- importance. 
For  it  is  that  formative  power,  that  creative  principle, 
that  life-giving  law,  in  which,  as  St.  Paul  beautifully 
says,  we  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 

The  words  "God"  and  "Nature,"  as  I  use  the 
terms,  are  not  identical,  yet  I  would  say  that  God  and 
Nature  are  inseparable,  they  are  one  indivisible  whole. 

When  we  speak  of  "Nature,"  we  think  of  the 
world  with  reference  to  its  physical  laws  chiefly.  We 
see  before  our  mental  eye  mountains  and  forests,  min- 
erals and  plants,  animals  and  men,  and  human  insti- 
tutions, from  which  the  word  Nature  has  been  ab- 
stracted and  which  embraces  them  all.  But  if  we 
speak  of  "God,"  we  think  chiefly  of  those  facts  of 
nature's  life  that  are  at  the  bottom  of  its  evolution,  of 
those  facts  that  have  produced  all  that  is  great  and 
noble  and  good,  for  they  are  the  conditions  still  of  our 
ideal  aspirations  and  make  their  realization  possible. 

God  and  Nature  were  formerly  considered  as  two 
separate  beings.  We  now  look  upon  them  as  being 
one.  God,  accordingly,  means  Nature,  or  the  Cos- 
mos, or  the  All,  or  the  Universe  considered  in  its 


THE  SOUL   OF  THE   UNIVERSE.          441 

ethical  importance,  considered  as  that  power  which 
works  out  our  future  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  con- 
stantly elevates,  enhances,  and  ennobles  life.  This 
power  is  no  unknown  or  unknowable  thing ;  the  laws 
of  its  manifestation  are  perfectly  ascertainable,  and  a 
society  in  which  these  laws  are  not  obeyed,  will  hope- 
lessly rot  away  and  perish. 

Nature  and  God,  as  we  conceive  them,  are  ideas 
equal  in  their  circumscription.  They  cover  the  same 
field  of  facts  ;  yet  they  are  different  in  so  far  as  each 
of  the  two  expressions  makes  different  features  more 
prominent. 

The  words  "my  house,"  "my  residence,"  "my 
home,"  are  three  expressions,  it  may  be,  for  the  very 
same  thing  to  a  man  who  owns  the  building  in  which 
he  lives.  Yet  each  of  these  words  makes  a  different 
feature  more  prominent  without  positively  excluding 
the  others.  He  says  "My  house"  when  thinking 
of  it  as  the  building  he  owns  ;  he  says  "  My  residence  " 
when  thinking  of  it  as  the  rooms  in  which  he  resides, 
and  he  says  "  My  home  "  when  thinking  of  the  seat  of 
his  family-relations  and  all  the  pleasant  remembrances 
connected  therewith.  For  different  purposes  we  would 
employ  different  expressions,  and  yet  in  reality  they 
may  signify  one  and  the  same  thing. 

Thus  also,  God  and  Nature  are  one,  and  yet  they 
are  different.  God  is  nature,  and  nature  is  God.  Yet 
by  nature  we  understand  God's  life  and  manifestations 
in  their  roughest  outline  only,  in  so  far  as  they  are 
palpable  to  every  living  being.  By  God,  however,  we 
mean  more  than  the  word  Nature  conveys  ;  we  mean 
chiefly  the  still  and  grand  and  powerful  workings  of 
nature,  almost  invisible  to  mortal  eye,  yet  plainly  per- 


442  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ceptible  to  the  knowing,  in  their  awful   majesty  and 
holiness. 

*  * 

We  have  after  a  long  consideration  adopted,  or 
rather  re-adopted,  the  word  God  as  a  signification  of 
this  highest  reality  in  the  world,  for  there  is  no  con- 
ception of  God,  be  it  ever  so  pagan  and  anthropomor- 
phic, that  does  not  contain  a  noticeable  endeavor  to 
express  this  our  idea  of  the  world-soul,  of  the  creative 
principle  of  the  cosmos  and  the  life  of  the  cosmos. 
The  idea  of  God  signifies  at  the  same  time  in  every 
religion  the  standard  of  morality  and  the  highest  au- 
thority, which  must  be  obeyed.  God  is  that  law  in  life 
which  visits  the  iniquity  of  the  evil-doer  unto  the  third 
and  fourth  generation,  and  which  blesses  the  righteous 
unto  the  thousandth  generation.  And  in  this  respect  our 
conception  of  God  is  not  at  all  different  from  that  of 
former  times.  Those  among  freethinkers  who  are 
pleased  to  call  themselves  atheists,  lack  a  proper  word 
and  often  they  do  not  even  feel  the  need  of  one  for 
expressing  the  authority  or  norm  according  to  which 
they  regulate  their  rules  of  conduct.  If  there  is  a 
difference  of  importance  between  our  view  and  that 
of  dogmatic  orthodoxy,  it  is  this,  that  the  conception 
of  God  as  proposed  by  us  from  the  standpoint  of  a 
positive  philosophy,  is  free  from  all  anthropomorphism. 

Theologians  claim  that  this  highest  reality  of  the 
world,  the  soul  of  the  universe,  its  formative  law,  must 
be  supposed  to  have  been  fashioned  by  a  great  per- 
sonal being,  by  an  omnipotent  God.  But  in  this  they 
show  their  misapprehension  of  the  independence  and 
inherent  necessity  of  natural  and  of  formal  laws.  They 
are  like  children  that  look  upon  their  teacher  as  the 
author  of  the  multiplication-table.  Some  one,  they 


THE  SOUL   OF  THE  UNIVERSE.         443 

think,  must  have  arranged  and  fixed  these  tables,  that 
such  order  and  harmony  and  proportion  could  be  in 
them.  Theologians  think  there  is  a  God  above  the 
God  of  the  Universe  who  created  the  divinity  of  the 
Cosmos.  But  the  divinity  of  the  Cosmos,  its  order 
and  harmony,  is  a  God  so  divine  that  he  cannot  have 
been  created  or  produced. 

We  are  in  no  need  of  such  an  hypothesis.  We 
can  better  do  without  the  assumption  of  a  supernatural 
arithmetician,  who  so  arranged  the  formal  laws  and 
dictated  them  to  the  atoms  that  they  would  obey  them. 
For  we  know  that  the  formal  laws  are  necessary  in 
themselves.  They  could  not  be  otherwise  than  they 
are.  Their  harmony  is  intrinsic  and  immanent.  The 
order  which  they  naturally  produce  cannot  have  been 
imposed  upon  them  by  the  ukase  of  a  personal  master, 
be  he  ever  so  great.  There  is  no  way  out  of  this,  and 
therefore  the  idea  of  a  personal  God,  of  an  extramun- 
dane  author  of  the  immanent  God  as  the  soul  of  the 
universe,  is  untenable. 


* 
* 


What  is  a  person  but  a  human  individual  ?  And 
what  is  an  individual  but  a  thing  which,  if  broken  or 
divided,  ceases  to  be  that  which  it  is  ?  A  quartz-crystal 
is  an  individual ;  if  you  crush  it,  it  ceases  to  be  a  crystal, 
and  is  mere  grains  of  sand.  A  plant  may,  but 
need  not,  be  an  individual.  There  are  plants  that 
you  can  cut  in  twain,  and  each  part  represents  all  the 
characteristic  features  of  that  plant.  Some  plants  are 
individuals,  and  if  divided,  will  grow  into  individuals 
again  ;  each  part  will  continue  to  grow  and  perfect 
itself.  Most  animals  are  individuals,  but  there  are 
some  that  are  not  individuals,  some  that  can  be  divided 
and  will  continue  to  live.  Amcebas,  properly  speak- 


444  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

ing,  are  not  individuals  ;  they  are  lumps  of  living 
matter — mere  specimens  of  animal  life. 

A  person  is  the  highest  type  of  an  individual ;  it  is 
an  individual  that  in  its  activity  does  not  depend  upon 
simple  reflex-motions  only,  but  can  regulate  its 
actions  with  the  assistance  of  former  experiences  and 
under  consideration  of  probable  results.  Thus  a  per- 
son is  an  individual  that  should  not  and  need  not 
follow  the  impulse  of  the  moment,  but  can  look  freely 
around  into  the  past  as  well  as  the  future.  We  can, 
accordingly,  make  a  person  responsible  for  his  actions, 
we  can  expect  him  to  use  the  advantages  which  he 
enjoys.  In  short,  a  person  is  an  individual  endowed 
with  freedom  of  action  and  moral  responsibility. 

Every  individual,  and  more  so  every  person,  pos- 
sesses a  special  idiosyncrasy ;  an  individual  is  of  a 
particular  form  and  limited  in  space  and  time.  Every 
individual  at  the  same  time  possesses  a  soul  of  its 
own  ;  its  formative  principle  makes  a  unit  of  it,  it 
organizes  it  into  a  microcosm.  The  microcosm  of 
individual  existence,  it  is  true,  represents  the  order  of 
the  macrocosm  upon  a  smaller  scale.  And  it  could  not 
be  different,  for  every  individual  has  grown  out  of  the 
cosmic  universe.  How  can  it  be  otherwise  than  created 
in  the  image  of  the  whole  cosmos?  Man,  being  a 
microcosm,  has  a  right  to  shape  his  idea  of  God,  of 
the  soul  of  the  macrocosm,  after  his  own  likeness,  for 
the  human  soul  cannot  but  be  a  part,  an  exponent,  a 
revelation  of  the  soul  that  pervades  the  All.  Yet  in 
fashioning  our  idea  of  God  after  the  pattern  of  our 
own  soul,  we  must  be  careful  not  to  select  those 
characteristic  features  which  are  individual  and  belong 
to  the  limitedness  of  our  existence.  We  must  select 
those  which  are  not  limited,  those  which  show  the 


THE  SOUL  OF  THE   UNIVERSE.         445 

universality  of  God;  we  must  not  select  the  properly 
human,  but  the  divine,  not  the  transient,  but  the  eter- 
nal, not  the  fleeting  and  unstable,  but  the  immutable, 
the  permanent  and  the  everlasting.  The  blossom  is  a 
revelation  of  the  whole  tree,  so  is  every  leaf ;  but  the 
blossom  is  a  more  perfect  revelation.  Says  the  blos- 
som :  "I  am  made  in  the  image  of  the  tree.  Accord- 
ingly the  tree  is  one  huge  blossom.  He  is  just  like 
me  and  not  like  the  leaves."  Let  us  beware  of  such 
narrowness. 

God,  as  I  conceive  him  to  be,  is  not  less  than  a 
person,  but  more  than  a  person.  The  frailty  of  per- 
sonality does  not  apply  to  him  ;  there  is  no  limitation, 
no  individuality,  no  distinct  idiosyncrasy  about  him. 

He  is  not  (as  according  to  my  conception  every 
person  is)  one  special  form  and  combination,  yet  he  is 
the  universality  of  law,  inflexible,  immutable,  eternal. 
You  can  adapt  yourself  to  him,  but  you  can  never 
adapt  him  to  yourself.  The  heathenish  custom  to 
attempt  an  adaptation  of  God  to  ourselves  is  not  yet 
extinct  in  Christianity. 

Certainly,  the  Universe  is  not  mere  force,  but  is 
force  ruled  by  law.  I  find  that  "Law "  and  "  Force " 
are  often  called  blind  by  naturalists.  Natural  laws  are 
called  blind,  I  suppose,  because  they  allow  of  no  ex- 
ception whatever ;  because  they  do  not  adapt  them- 
selves to  circumstances,  as  persons  might  do.  But  is 
not  the  expression  "the  blind  laws  of  nature  "  never- 
theless a  contradiction,  or  at  least  an  inadequateness 
of  simile  ?  If  natural  laws  do  not  adapt  themselves  to 
us,  we  must  in  our  turn  adapt  ourselves  to  them.  But 
is  that  any  reasonable  pretence  for  calling  them  blind  ? 
Certainly  not ;  for  they  make  it  possible  that  we  need 
not  grope  blindly  about ;  being  irrefragable,  they  throw 


446  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN. 

light  upon  natural  phenomena  and  thus  become  our 
guides  and  teach  us,  how  we  can  adapt  ourselves  to 
nature. 

We  welcome  the  idea  that  God  is  no  person,  but  a 
law ;  not  a  being  adaptable  to  circumstances,  but  an 
irrefragable  authority  ;  no  deified  egotism  but  the  om- 
nipotent power  of  All-existence !  This  idea  is  the 
republican  conception  of  theology  which  can  conceive 
of  order  and  of  law  without  a  Prince,  and  of  religion 
without  the  fetish  of  anthropomorphism. 

We  have  no  objection  to  representing  the  moral 
law  of  the  Universe  to  which  we  have  to  conform,  as 
a  person.  We  may  compare  it  to  a  father,  and  with 
Christ  call  it  "Our  Father,"  just  as  we  like  to  speak 
of  Mother  Nature.  But  we  wish  to  have  it  understood 
that  this  expression  is  a  simile  only — a  simile  which, 
if  carried  out,  will  lead  to  serious  misconceptions. 


INDEX. 


Absent-mindedness,  258. 

Abstract  ideas,  356. 

Abstract  thought,  361,  375  et  seq. 

Abstraction,  383. 

Abstraction,  the  method  of   under- 
standing nature,  u. 

Achilles,  298. 

Acrania,  99. 

Active  feelings,  35. 

Acts  of  Vitality,  a  decay,  57  et  seq. 

Adaptability,  249. 

Adaptation,  252,  411. 

Adroitness,  351. 

.flisop,  348. 

Afferent  and  efferent  nerves,  74. 

Agnosticism,  370. 

Agnosticism  and  subject-superstition, 
31,  et  seq. 

Agraphia,  174. 

Alter  ego,  251. 

Amnesic  aphasia,  175. 

Amcebas,  67. 

Amphioxus,  94,  99. 

Anaesthesia,  333. 

Anaesthetic  hand,  249. 

Animal  brains,  differences  between, 
210. 

Animal-cell  and  plant-cell,  72. 

Animal  heat,  52. 

Animal  life,  363. 

Anschauung,  38. 

Ant  (white),  88. 

Antigone,  408. 

Antony,  317. 

Aphasia,  174,  181. 

Appearance  of  consciousness,  6. 

Appel,  22. 

Arrow  worm,  233,  et  seq. 

Articulates,   nervous    system    of,   87 
et  seq. 


Ascidians,  86,  95. 

Asterias  glacialis,  227. 

Asterias  (star-fish),  86. 

Atheists,  439. 

Attention,  206,  258. 

Attention  and  consciousness,  306. 

Attention,  object  of,  255,  353. 

Attention,  Ribot  on,  i. 

Auerbach,  229. 

Automatic,  meaning  of,  312. 

Automatism  (intelligent),  249.  305. 

Auto-suggestion,  329,  335. 

Azam,  262. 

Bain,  338,  344. 

Balfour,  229. 

Bankruptcy  confession  of,  in  Agnos 
ticism,  33. 

Bark-louse,  psychical  activity  of  the, 
195- 

Bear,  106. 

Beaunis,  293. 

Beneden  (Van),  229. 

Bentham,  338. 

Berenger  de  Carpi,  172. 

Bernheim,  269,  271,  293. 

Binet,  249,  294. 

Birth,  406. 

Birth  and  death,  398. 

Bjornstrom,  Dr.  Frederick,  301. 

Blisters  produced  by  suggestion,  329. 

Boa-constrictor,  104. 

Body  and  mind,  correspondence  be- 
tween, 5. 

Body,  nature  of  the,  25. 

Bouilland,  182. 

Boulanger,  270. 

Brain,  a  storehouse  of  memories,  128. 

Brain,  development  of  the,  107  et  seq. 


448 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


Brain  functions,  localizations  of,  165, 

245- 
Brain  in  miniature— a  ganglion  is  a, 

252. 

Brain  (primitive),  85. 
Brain-substance,     vicarious    activity 

of,  163. 

Brainless  dog,  188. 
Brainless  frogs,  187. 
Brainless  pigeon,  186. 
Breathing,  reflex  centres  of,  124. 
Broca,  igo,  182. 
Brutus,  317. 

Bunge  on  vital  energy,  52. 
Burger,  Gottfried,  328. 
Buridan's  donkey,  392. 
Burns  produced  by  suggestion,  329. 

Capsula  interna,  148. 

Catalepsy,  275,  279. 

Cataleptic  state,  306. 

Caterpillar,  90. 

Caudate  body,  198,  202. 

Cell-organism  (the),  68. 

Cell-souls  and  soul-cells,  71. 

Cells,  development  of,  220. 

Cellular  rejuvenescence,  220. 

Central  consciousness,  265. 

Central  soul,  239,  251,  255,  258,  259, 
264. 

Central-soul  and  church-steeple,  253. 

Central  soul-life,  249  et  seq. 

Central  soul,  the  sphere  of  conscious- 
ness, 243. 

Centre  of  the  central  soul,  258. 

Centre  of  language,  173  et  seq. 

Centrifugal  and  centripetal  nerves, 
74- 

Cephalopodes,  86. 

Cerebellum,  100,  130  et  seq.,  192. 

Cerebellum,  gray  matter  of,  133. 

Cerebrum,  100. 

Changes  of  motion  and  conscious- 
ness, parallelism  of,  5. 

Character,  390,  391,  394. 

Character,  elements  of,  260. 

Charcot,  158,  269,  275,  303. 

Chilodon  cucullulus,  402. 

Chlorophyll,  220,  223. 

Chriemhild,  390. 

Christian  science,  380. 


Chrysalis,  90. 

Clifford,  Prof.,  2,  3,  4,  5,  9,  ip,  14. 

Ccenassthesis,  353. 

Combustion,  51. 

Commissural  fibres,  158. 

Communism  of  soul-life,  412  et  seq. 

Complex  of  elements  in  feeling,  6. 

Comte,  371. 

Concepts,  38. 

Conchs,  86. 

Concentration,  309. 

Concentration  and  hypnosis,  310. 

Conception,  286. 

Confinements,  use  of  hypnosis  in,  334. 

Conjugation,  process  of,  222. 

Conscience,  345. 

Conscious  soul-activity,  238. 

Conscious  thought,  309. 

Consciousness,  192,  219,  258,  308,  350 
et  seq. 

Consciousness  and  attention,  306. 

Consciousness  and  feeling,  189. 

Consciousness  and  intelligence,  196, 
204  et  seq. 

Consciousness  and  struggle  for  exist- 
ence, 195. 

Consciousness,  appearance  and  dis- 
appearance of,  6. 

Consciousness    caused    through  ten- 
sion, 194. 

Consciousness  compared  to  a  light, 
83  et  seq. 

Consciousness,  importance  of,  83. 

Consciousness,    intensified     feeling, 
363- 

Consciousness,  interruptions  of,  25. 

Consciousness,  limitation  of,  19. 

Consciousness,  nature  of,  82. 

Consciousness  (organ  of),  197. 

Consciousness,    physiological    me- 
chanism of,  206. 

Consciousness    possesses    no    motor 
power,  82. 

Consciousness,  projection  of,  31. 

Consciousness,  seat  of,   194  et  seq., 
205. 

Consciousness,  states  of,  4,  5,  35. 

Consciousness,  unity  of,  the  products 
of  concentration,  206. 

Conservation  of  energy,  49. 

Continuity  of  the  central-soul,  259. 


INDEX. 


449 


Continuity,  the  characteristic  feature 

of  life,  75. 

Convolutions,  163,  167  et  seq. 
Co-ordination,  organs  of,  310. 
Coral  plant,  humanity  compared  to  a, 

412. 

Corona  radiata,  143. 
Coronal,  150,  151,  153. 
Corpora  candicantia  or  corpora  mam- 

millaria,  145. 
Corpus  callosum,  157. 
Corpus  Striatum,  310. 
Correspondence  between  body  and 

mind,  5. 

Cortex,  148,  157,  162. 
Cortical  substance,  161. 
Crab,  87. 
Craniata,  99. 
Creon,  408. 

Crowds,  suggestibility  of,  314  et  seq. 
Crus,   137. 
Crusta,  137. 
Cuckoo,  104. 
Cymothoa,  87. 

Darwin,  73. 

Data,  23. 

Dax,  father  and  son,  on  localization 
of  speech,  182. 

Death,  26,  66,  398  et  seq.,  407. 

Death  and  birth,  398. 

Death  and  life,  57  et  seq. 

Death  the  giver  of  life,  58. 

Death  no  finality,  382,  407. 

Decapitated  frog,  experiment  upon, 
128,  252. 

Decay  and  activity,  58. 

Deduced  facts,  23. 

Deism,  367. 

Deliberation,  349,  364  et  seq. 

Demagogue,  318. 

Descartes,  33,  144,  207,  431. 

Descartes's  syllogism,  32. 

Dessoir  (Max),  257. 

Difference  between  animate  and  in- 
animate nature,  56. 

Disappearance  of  Consciousness,  6. 

Division,  multiplication  by,  401. 

Division  of  labor,  242. 

Docility,  304. 

Dog  (brainless),  188. 


l)og,  brain  of,  171,  199,  285. 

Dogmatists,  439. 

Dostojewsky,  144. 

Double  personality,  258  et  seq.,  262, 

264. 

Double  soul,  238,  243. 
Doubt,  a  mental  tension,  194. 
Dream-ego,  260. 
Dreaming  and  idealism,  295. 
Dreams,  287^.289,  292^  et  seq.,  294. 
Dreams  and  imagination,  296. 
Dreams  and  peripheral  soul  life,  257. 
Dreams,  reality  of,  281. 
"  Drummer,"  303. 
Dualism,  324. 
Duality  of  soul-life,  239. 
Du  Bois  Reymond,  77. 
Diising;  237. 

Economy  of  labor.  30. 

Ecstasy,  273. 

Edinger,  no. 

Education,  365. 

Effects  of  sleep,  331. 

Efferent  or  afferent  nerves,  74. 

Ego  (the),  265,  431  et  seq. 

Egotism  does  not  accomplish  its  end, 
409. 

Ehrenberg,  404. 

Eject  and  Object,  3. 

Electricity,  425. 

Electricity  and  nervous  activity,  77 
et  seq. 

Electricity,  rate  of  transmission  of, 
78. 

Elements  of  feeling,  6,  14,  27,  385, 423. 

Elements  of  motion,  6. 

Elephant  (brain  of),  214. 

Embryo,  early  stage  of  nervous  sys- 
tem in  the,  107. 

Energy,  49. 

Energy  and  vital  force,  51. 

Energy  indestructible,  51. 

Eocene  Mammals,  105. 

Epicurus,  338. 

Epiktetus,  391. 

Epiphysis,  or  pineal  gland,  143  et  seq. 

Equivocation,  318. 

Erl-king,  327. 

Error,  39  et  seq. 

Eternity  and  mind,  45  et  seq. 


450 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


Ether-theories,  55. 
Ethics  of  Immortality,  407. 
Ethics,  scientific  basis  of,  377. 
Ethical  teachers  of  mankind,  427. 
Ethical,  what  is,  70. 
Excitement,  influence  of,  328. 
Exner,  169,  175  et  seq.,  245. 
Experience,  the  data  of,  374. 
Experiments  on  the  brain  of  animals, 

186. 

External,  30. 
External  facts,  contents  of  deduced 

facts,  23. 

Fact  not  identical  with  truth,  41. 
Facts,  given  and  inferred,  29  et  seq. 
Failure  in  philosophy,  agnosticism  is, 

33- 

Faith-cure,  330,  380. 
Fallacy  of  a  sentimental  logic,  320. 
Far-feeling,  44. 
Fatigue,  272,  274. 
Fechner,  8,  20,  22. 
Fecundation,  406. 
Fecundation  and  immortal  life,  340. 
Feeling,  282. 

Feeling  a  complex  of  elements,  6. 
Feeling  a  complex  phenomenon,  27. 
Feeling  and  consciousness,  189. 
Feelings  and  mind,  24. 
Feeling  and  motion,  i  et  seq.,  358. 
Feeling  and  motion,  parallelism  of, 

4,20. 

Feeling  and  sensation,  2. 
Feeling  as  a  physiological  process,  76. 
Feeling  created  by  memory,  62. 
Feeling,  elements  of,  6,  14,  385,  423. 
Feeling,  elements  of,  in  the  objective 

world,  27. 

Feeling,  forms  of,  80. 
Feeling,  ganglions  the  seat  of,  76. 
Feeling,  nervous  process  in,  7. 
Feeling,  no  change  of,  into  motion, 

83. 

Feeling  not  motion,  81. 
Feeling,  origination  of,  45,  385. 
Feeling,  origin  of,  not  incidental,  27 

et  seq. 

Feeling  substance,  28. 
Feelings  produce  the  subject,  32. 
Felida,  X.,  262. 


Fere,  294. 

Fillet,  137. 

Finality,  none,  407. 

Fiquet,  237. 

Fissures,  163,  166,  167  et  seq. 

Flame,  426. 

Flesch,  144. 

Flourens,  163. 

Fly,  88. 

Fol,  228. 

Foramen  Monro,  109. 

Force,  445. 

Forel,  254  et  seq.,  270,  292,  335. 

FormL  383,  386,  437. 

Form,  differences  of,  419. 

Form  in  scientific  problems,  387. 

Form,  laws  of,  15. 

Form,  preservation  of  and  soul-life 

418. 

Form,  preservation  of  in  memory,  63 
Formation  of  sex,  234. 
Forms  of  feelings,  80. 
Fornix,  145. 
Four  Hills,  143. 
Fox,  brain  of,  211. 
Freedom  of  will,  389  et  seq. 
Frog,  103. 

Frog  (brainless),  187. 
Frontal  lobe,  169,  209. 
Frontal  section  of  brain,  201. 
Fticus  vesiculosus,  224. 
Fungi,  224. 

Gall,  164,  165,  182. 

Ganglion,  74. 

Ganglion,  a  brain  in  miniature,  252. 

Ganglion,  a  primitive  brain,  85. 

Ganglions,  the  seat  of  feeling,  76. 

Gaskell,  145. 

Gastrula,  69. 

Gastrulation,  233. 

Gegenbauer,  99. 

Gemmation,  400. 

Generalizations,  286,  356. 

Generative  cells,  229  et  seq. 

Germinal  vesicle,  227. 

Ghosts,  325,  385. 

Ghosts,  belief  in,  298. 

Given  Facts,  23. 

God,  367,  436  et  seq. 

God  and  Nature,  440  et  seq. 


INDEX. 


Goethe,  290,  296,  327. 

Goltz,  143,  163,  187. 

Gorilla,  106. 

Graafian  follicle,  226. 

Grasshopper,  91. 

Graves's  case  of  aphasia,  178. 

Gray  matter,  204, 

Gruber,  404. 

Gudden,  146. 

Gurney,  249,  et  seq. 

Gyrus  Hippocampi,  156. 

Haeckel,  69,  71,  94,  239,  242,  401. 

Hagen,  390. 

Hallucination,  38,  300. 

Hallucination  and  dreams,  294. 

Happiness,  409. 

Hawkmoth,  90. 

Heart,  action  of  the,  125. 

Helmholz,  77. 

Helvetius,  258. 

HemianaBSthesia,  205. 

Hemiplegia,  205. 

Hemispheric  region,  148  et  seq.,  192. 

Hens  (brainless),  186. 

Herbart,  22. 

Hering,  62,  80,  164. 

Hierarchical  system  in  soul-life,  253. 

Higher  life  of  nature  and  memory,  64. 

Hoeffding,  338. 

Hofacker,  236. 

Holothurium,  225. 

Homer,  298. 

Huguenin,  169. 

Human  brain,  312. 

Human  brain,  physiological  condi- 
tions of,  209. 

Human  organization,  Meynert's  ex- 
planation of  the,  215. 

Humanity  compared  to  a  coral  plant, 
412. 

Humanity  compared  to  a  creeping 
plant,  220. 

Humanity  compared  to  a  wave,  66. 

Humanity,  life  of,  415. 

Hume,  431. 

Huxley,  95. 

Hydra,  69,  70. 

Hyper-aesthesia,  280. 

Hypermechanics,  387. 

Hypnosis,  275,  292. 


Hypnosis  and  sleep,  271. 
Hypnosis,  use  of,  in  confinements,  334. 
Hypnotic  state,  304. 
Hypnotism,  254,  268  et  seq. 
Hypnotism  as  a  pseudo-sleep,    270, 

275- 

Hypnotism,  dangers  of,  332  et  seq. 
Hypnotism  no  panac3a,  330. 
Hypophysis,  144. 

Ideal  (the),  325  et  seq. 

Ideal,  the  realm  of  representations, 

327- 

Idealism,  297,  384. 

Idealism  and  dreaming,  295. 

Idealist  philosophers,  error  of,  36. 

Ideals,  437. 

Ideas  as  impulses,  83. 

Ideas,  nervous  structure  of,  327. 

Identity  of  feeling  and  motion,  21. 

Imagination  and  dreams,  296, 

Imagination,  influence  of,  328,  et  seq. 

Immediate  reality,  38. 

Immortality,  ethics  of,  407. 

Immortality  of  soul-life,  406. 

Immortality  (potential),  219. 

Immortality,  sacrifice  of  individual, 
404. 

Importance  of  consciousness,  83. 

Impulses,  83. 

Indeterminism,  396. 

Indispensability  of  Psychology,  323. 

Individual  germs,  struggle  for  exist- 
ence of,  403. 

Individual  (the),  443. 

Individual  (the)  part  of  a  great  whole, 
67. 

Inferences,  23. 

Infundibulum,  144, 

Inhibition,  366  et  seq. 

Inorganic  nature,  life  of,  60  et  seq. 

Inorganic  processes  destitute  of  mem- 
ory, 61. 

Insinuation,  321  et  seq. 

Inspiration,  247,  254. 

Intelligence  and  consciousness,  204 
et  seq.,  352. 

Intelligence,  relation  of,  to  growth  of 
hemispheric  region,  216  et  seq. 

Intelligent  automatism,   249,  305,  310. 

Intensity  of  want,  343. 


452 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


Interaction  between  subject  and  ob- 
ject, 36. 

Interchangeability,  385. 

Interconvertibility    of    motion    and 
feeling,  i,  5. 

Invertebrates  and  vertebrates,   con- 
necting link  between,  95, 

Irritations,  358  et  seq. 

Island  of  Reil,  174,  182. 

"It  thinks,"  248. 

Jackson,  180. 

Kant,  32,  431. 

Kinetic  energy  and  unstable  combina- 
tion, 51. 

Kinetic  energy  and  vis  -viva,  49. 
Kisch,  236. 

Knowledge,  basis  of,  373. 
Knowledge,  relativity  of,  12. 
Kowalewsky,  95. 
Kupffer,  95. 

Lanceolate,  94. 

Landois,  186,  205,  217. 

Language,  362. 

Language,  centre  of,  173  et  seq 

Language,  importance  of,  209,  218. 

Lasegue,  178. 

Law,  445. 

Law  and  consistency,  267. 

Laws  of  nature,  429. 

Leech,  91. 

Left-handed  and  right-brained,  174. 

Left-handed  people,  185. 

Leibnitz,  16. 

Le  Long's  case,  180. 

Lenticular  body,  148,  198. 

Leonore,  328. 

Lethargic  state,  307. 

Lethargy,  275,  279. 

Leuckart,  95. 

Lichtenberg,  248,  433. 

Liebault,  301. 

Liegeois,  301. 

Life  and  death,  57. 

Life  as  spontaneous  motion,  54. 

Life,    continuity    the    characteristic 

feature  of,  75. 
Life  from  life  only,  53. 
Life  of  inorganic  nature,  60  et  seq. 


Life,  what  is,  47. 

L'ght  and  mind,  43,  45. 

Light,  comparison  of  consciousness 

to  a,  83  et  seq. 

Limitation  of  consciousness,  19. 
Linnaeus,  69. 
Living  substance,  358. 
Localization  of  brain  functions,  163 

et  seq.,  245. 
Locke,  17. 
Locus  niger,  137. 
Lohmeyer,  183. 
Lombrcso,  336. 
Longet,  172. 
Lordat  on  aphasia,  177. 
Loss  of  brain  substance,  172. 
Luther,  430. 
Luys,  Dr.,  269  et  seq.,  279,  332,  etseq. 

336. 
Luys's  hypothesis,  139  et  seq. 

Mach,  Professor,  4. 

Machine,  man  as  a,  16. 

Macnish,  262. 

Macrocosm,  444. 

Magic  lanterns  and  soul-life,  266. 

Man  a  most  highly  developed  Hydra 

71- 

Man,  brain  of,  106,  213. 

Man,  is  he  a  machine  ?  16. 

Man,  nervous  system  of,  75. 

Mankind  as  a  wave,  421. 

Materialism,  380  et  seq.,  384,  386. 

Matrimony,  406. 

Matter  an  abstract,  383. 

Matter  and  mind-stuff,  10. 

Maudsley,  Dr.  Henry,  18. 

Maury  on  dreams,  289. 

Meaning,  how  feelings  acquire,  27  et 
seq. 

Meaning  of  projected  sensations,  31 

Medulla  oblongata,  100,  123  et  seq. 

Mechanics  and  visible  motion,  54. 

Memory,  26,  29,  45. 

Memory  and  organized  substance,  60 
et  seq. 

Memory  and  the  higher  life  of  na- 
ture, 64. 

Memory  creates  feeling,  62. 

Memory,  na  ure  of,  28,  63. 

Memory,  problem  of,  422. 


INDEX. 


453 


Memories,  series  of,  259. 

Memories,  the  brain  a  storehouse  of, 
128.  . 

Memory-images,  246. 

Memory-structures,  422. 

Mental  activity,  co-ordination  of,  308. 

Metaphysicism,  378. 

Metaphysics,  380. 

Meynert,  128,  139,  142,  143,  145,  169, 
188  etseq.  209,  213,  215,  218. 

Microcosm,  the  soul  a,  44,  444. 

Microcosms,  organisms  are,  267. 

Mihalkovics,  95. 

Milk  of  a  mother,  328. 

Mind,  5. 

Mind-activity  and  telepathy,  37. 

Mind  and  body,  correspondence  be- 
tween, 5. 

Mind  and  eternity,  45,  46. 

Mind  and  light,  43,  45. 

Mind  and  motion,  13. 

Mind,  orig  n  of,  29. 

Mind,  the  organized  totality  of  de- 
duced facts,  23. 

Mind  the  representativeness  of  feel- 
ings, 24. 

Mind-forms,  preservation  of,  45. 

Mind-stuff,  9. 

Mind-stuff  and  matter,  10, 

Mollusks,  87. 

Moner,  394. 

Monism,  34,  43,  325  et  seq. 

Monistic  view,  the,  324,  327. 

Monkey  (brain  of),  200,  212,  285. 

Monkey's  brain,  motor  regions  of, 
170. 

Monotely,  273. 

Montgomery,  Dr.,  19. 

Moral  condition  of  higher  evolution 
of  life,  70. 

Motion,  383. 

Motion  and  feeling,  i  et  seq.,  358. 

Motion  and  feeling,  parallelism  be- 
tween, 4,  20. 

Motion  and  mind,  13. 

Motion,  elements  of,  6. 

Motion,  no  change  of  feeling,  83. 

Motio.1  (spontaneous),  187. 

Motions,  uninterrupted  chain  of,  8. 

Motory  centres,  169,  172. 

Motory  fibres,  118, 


Motory  nerves,  74. 

Miiller  (Johannes),  79. 

Multiplication  by  division,  401. 

Munk,  169,  283. 

Miinsterberg,  197. 

Muscular  contraction  in  response  to 

act  of  will,  8. 
Myxomycetes,  224. 


Naegeli,  220. 

Nancy  school  of  hypnotists,  269,  271. 

Narcosis,  272. 

Narcotics,  333. 

Nature  alive,  7,  386. 

Nature  and  God,  440. 

Nature,  death  of,  only  comparative, 

60. 

Nauplius,  69. 
Nautilus,  87,  93. 
Nerve-activity,  6. 
Nerve-bundles,  121,  145. 
Nerve-fibres,  74. 
Nervous  activity  not   electricity,   77 

et  seq. 
Nervous  irritations,  rate  of  tran^mis- 

sion  of,  78, 

Nervous  process  in  feeling,  7. 
Nervous  shock,  average  rate  of,  77. 
Nervous   system    and    telegraphing, 

77  et  seq. 
Nervous   system,   beginning   of  the, 

107 

Nervous  system  of  man,  75. 
Nervous    system,  simplest  form   of, 

85- 

Nerves  and  soul-cells,  73. 
Nerves  compared  to  a  line  of  cards, 

80. 
Nerves    compared    to    compressed 

springs,  78. 
Neuroglia,  114  et  seq. 
Neuro-muscular  cells,  70. 
Neutral  territory,  243. 
New-born  animals,  189. 
Noire,  Ludwig,  218. 
Not-feeling  (the),  45. 
Nucleus,  228,  230,  232,  405. 
Nucleus  caudatus,  148,  150. 
Nucleus  ruber,  145. 
Nussbaum,  404. 


454 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


Object,  35. 

Object  and  eject,  3. 

Objective  and  subjective  existence,  25 

et  seq. 
Objective  element  in  subjective  states 

34,  35  et  seq. 
Objective  reality,  7. 
Objective  world,  permanence  of,  26. 
Objectivity,  325. 

Objectivity  and  subjectivity,  29. 
Objectivity,  meaning  of,  36. 
Objectivity  of  truth,  41. 
CEsophagean  ring,  87  et  seq. 
Olynthus,  69. 
Oneness  of  all  reality,  14. 
Operations,  333. 
Optic  lobes,  100. 
Oratory,  315  et  seq. 
Organic  elements,  41,  60. 
Organic  growth  of  living  things,  47. 
Organic  substances,  57. 
Organisms,  microcosms,  267. 
Organization,  57,  238. 
Organized  and  non-organized  life,  54 

et  seq. 
Organized   and   organic   substances, 

48. 
Organized  life,  spontaneous  rise  of, 

60. 
Organized  substance  and  memory,  60 

et  seq. 

Organized  substances,  57. 
Origin  of  feeling  not  incidental,  27  et 

seq. 

Outside  facts,  30  et  seq. 
Ovum,  225. 
Owl,  104. 
Oyster,  92. 

Pain  and  pleasure,  341,  344. 

Pagenstecher,  95. 

Pain  due  to  disturbance,  340. 

Painlessness  of  diseases,  339. 

Pallas,  94. 

Panacea,  hypnotism  not  a,  330. 

Parallelism  of  changes  of  motion  and 

consciousness,  5. 
Parallelism  of  feeling  and  motion,  4, 

20  et  seq. 
Parallelism  between  the  real  and  the 

ideal,  326. 


Paralysis  of  speech,  174,  181 

Paraphasia,  176. 

Paris  school  of  hypnotists,  269,  271. 

Parrot,  105. 

Parthenogenesis,  226,  230. 

Passive  feelings,  35. 

Patroclus,  298. 

Perception,  283. 

Perception  not  explainable   on   me- 
chanical principles,  16. 

Perception,  threshold  of,  21. 

Perceptions,  38. 

Perch,  loi. 

Peripheral  soul,  239. 

Peripheral  soul-life,  249  et  seq.,  251. 

Permanence  of  the  objective  world, 
26. 

Person,  444. 

Personality,  259,  432. 

Personality  of  man,  422. 

Petrina,  169. 

Philosophy,  chief  problem  of,  43. 

Philosophy  of  sleep,  262. 

Phrenology,  164. 

Physiological   conditions   of  the  hu- 
man brain,  209. 

Physiological  hypnotism,  269. 

Physiological   mechanism   of   con- 
sciousness, 206. 

Piano,  comparison  of  the  soul  to,  17. 

Pig,  brain  of.  203. 

Pigeon  (brainless),  186. 

Pike,  102,  363. 

Pineal  gland,  143  etseq.,  207. 

Pituitary  body,  144. 

Plant-cell  and  animal-cell,  72. 

Planchette  experiment,  250  et  seq. 

Pleasure  and  pain,  341.  344. 

Polar  bodies,  228. 

Polar  spindle,  228. 

Pond-snail,  233. 

Pons,  100,  130  et  seq  ,  134. 

Positive  philosophy,  basis  of  a,  374, 

377. 

Positivism,  34,  371,  439. 
Post-hypnotic  suggestion,-3or,  254,  335. 
Potential  energy,  49. 
Potential  existence,  375. 
Preacher,  303. 
Preservation  of  form,  420. 
Preservation  of  form  in  memory,  63. 


INDEX. 


455 


Preservation  of  mind-forms,  45. 
Pressure  and  counter-pressure,  50. 
Progress,  64,  343. 
Projection,  Meynert's  three  systems 

of,  189. 

Projection  of  consciousness,  31. 
Projection  of  objective  facts,  30. 
Projection  of  sensations,  30. 
Projection  of  sense-percepts,  288. 
Propagation  of  moners,  394. 
Protists,  401. 
Protoplasm,  67. 
Pseudo-sleep,  270. 
Psychic,  276. 

Psychic  life,  elementary  germs  of,  7. 
Psychical  activity  of  the  bark-louse, 

195- 

Psychical  cures,  332. 
Psychical  regions  of  the  brain,  188. 
Psychological  knowledge   is    power, 

323 

Psychology  indispensable,  323. 
Psychology,  the  old  and  new,  425. 
Psychometer,  278. 
Psycho-physics,  21. 
Pulvinar,  137. 
Putamen,  148 
Pyramidal  bundles,  119,  120. 

Quesnay,  173. 

Radiates,  86. 

Ranke,  Dr.  Johannes,  420. 
Rationality  of  the  world,  15. 
Raven,  105. 
Real  (the),  325. 
Real  and  reality,  388. 
Real  and  true,  41. 
Reality,  384. 
Reality,  immediate,  38. 
Reality,  objective,  7. 
Reality  of  dreams,  281. 
Reality  of  feeling,  2. 
Reality,  oneness  of  all,  13. 
Reality,  subjective,  7. 
Reality,  subjective  and  objective,  10. 
Reason  (human),  development  of,  15. 
Receptivity,  304. 
Red  nucleus,  146. 

Reflex  centres  of  the  medulla  oblon- 
gata,  123. 


Reflex-motions,  346  et  seq. 
Rejuvenescence,  226,  230. 
Relativity  of  knowledge,  12. 
Religion  and  science,  430. 
Religion,  elements  in,  429. 
Representations  and  th^  ideal,  327. 
Representative  images,  360. 
Reproduction,  sexual,  405. 
Responsibility,  389  et  seq.,  395. 
Reymond  (Du  Bois'),  77. 
Ribot,  i,  82,  258,  263. 
Romanes,  George  J.,   on  "  Mind  and 

Body,"  8. 
Rotating  mirror,  333. 

Sachs,  J.,  220. 

Sadler,  236. 

Sagittal  sections,  153. 

Sagitta,  69,  233  et  seq. 

Sandhopper,  87. 

Schiff,  139,  142,  189. 

Schiller,  315,  391. 

Schlarama,  410. 

Scholasticism,  33. 

Schoolmen,  34. 

Schoolmen,  philosophy  of  the,  32. 

Schopenhauer,  295  et  seq.,  410. 

Schwarz's  case  of  a  three-year  old 

girl,  185. 

Science  and  religion,  430. 
Science  flot  materialistic,  380. 
Science,  object  of,  42. 
Scientific  problem,  one  of  form,  387. 
Sea-nettle,  239  et  seq. 
Sea-urchin,  230  et  seq. 
Seat  of  consciousness,  194  et  seq. 
Second  ego,  261. 
Second  sight,  324,  380. 
Secondary  intelligence,  250. 
Seguin,  184. 

Selective  faculty,  mechanical,  20. 
Selenka,  227,  230. 
Self-consciousness,  308. 
Self-discipline,  365. 
Self-hypnotization,  336. 
Self-knowledge,  64  et  seq.,  323. 
Self-motion  and  spontaneity,  55. 
Self-preservation,  367. 
Sensation,  282. 
Sensation  and  feeling,  2. 
Sensations,  conditions  of,  i. 


456 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


Sensations,  348,  356. 

Sensations,  the  projection  of,  30. 

Sense  percepts  projected,  288. 

Senses,  limitations  of  the,  370  et  seq. 

Sensory  centres,  169,  172. 

Senscry  fibres,  118. 

Sensory  nerves,  74. 

Sensory  nerves,  vibration  of,  8. 

Sensory  organs,  76. 

Sentimental  arguments,  319  et  seq. 

Sepia,  87. 

Series  of  memories,  259. 

Sex,  formation  of,  234. 

Sexual  cells,  220. 

Sexual  generation,  401,  404. 

Sexual  instinct,  219. 

Sexual  reproduction,  405. 

Shakespeare,  317,  298. 

Shark,  102. 

Sheep  (brain  of),  211. 

Shell,  148. 

Simon,  183. 

Siphonophore,  239,  et  seq. 

Sleep,  272,  274, 

Sleep,  effects  of,  331. 

Sleep,  philosophy  of,  262. 

Slug,  92. 

Snail,  86,  92. 

Sneezing,  366. 

Somatic  cells,  220,  229. 

Somnambulism,  275,  279,  305,  310. 

Sophocles,  408. 

Soul,  5,  406. 

Soul  (human)  a  microcosm,  44. 

Soul  (human)  formation  of  the,  423. 

Soul  (human)  function  of  the,  44. 

Soul,  nature  of  the,  431,  435. 

Soul  of  the  thing,  437. 

Soul  (the)  a  special  form  of  life,  426. 

Soul  t'the)  a  telepathic  machine,  44. 

Soul  (the)  compared  to  a  piano,  17. 

Soul,  the  form  of  an  organism,  64. 

Soul-cells  and  cell-souls,  71. 

Soul-cells  and  nerves,  73. 

Soul-life  a  hierarchical  system,  253. 

Soul-life,  communism  of,  412. 

Soul-life,  seat  of,  128. 

Soul-life  of  animal  and  plants,  66  et 

seq. 

Souls,  exchange  of,  413. 
Space,  conception  of,  37. 


Specific  energy,  79. 

Speech,  cortical  centre  of,  175. 

Speech,  cortical  mechanism  of,  287. 

Speech,  region  of,  209. 

Spencer,  17,  338,  344,  377. 

Spermatozoon,  225. 

Sphere  of  consciousness,  the  central 
soul,  243. 

Sphinx  igustri,  89. 

Spinal  cord,  100,  114  et  seq.,  122. 

Spirogyra  longata,  222,  224. 

Spirit,  298,  386. 

Spirits,  244,  247,  380. 

Spiritual,  42  et  seq.,  381. 

Spiritual  life  of  nature,  63,  64. 

Spiritual,  the  world  is,  385. 

Spiritual  treasures  of  positive  phi- 
losophy, 377. 

Spiritualism,  380,  384. 

Spiritualists,  386. 

Spontaneity  and  self-motion,  55. 

Spontaneous  motion  throughout  na- 
ture, 54. 

Spontaneous  rise  of  organized  life,  60. 

Sporogony,  400. 

Star-fish,  egg  of,  227. 

Star  fish,  nervous  system  of,  86. 

Stentor  coeruleus,  405. 

Stigmata  produced  by  auto-sugges- 
tion, 329. 

Stigeoclonium  insigne,  220. 

Strassburger,  223. 

Striped  Body,  TOO,  148,  193, 196  et  seq., 
205. 

Striped  Body  and  the  Hemispheres, 

202. 

Struggle  for  existence,  196,  368,  410. 

Subconscious  conditions,  252. 

Subconscious  soul-activity,  252. 

Subconsciousness,  309. 

Subject,  24. 

Subject,  meaning  of,  34. 

Subject,  non-existence  of  the,  34. 

Subject,  origin  of  the,  31. 

Subject-object-ness,  36. 

Subject,  part  of  the  objective  world, 
26. 

Subject-superstition  and  Agnosti- 
cism, 31  et  seq. 

Subjective  and  objective  existence, 
25- 


INDEX. 


457 


Subjective  reality,  2,  7. 

Subjective  states,  objective  element 

in,  34,  35  et  seq. 

Subjective  world,  transiency  of,  26. 
Subjectivity,  325. 
Subjectivity  and  objectivity,  29. 
Subjectivity  of  truth,  42. 
Subthalamic  region,  145. 
Suggestibility,  270,  303. 
Suggestibility  of  masses,  319. 
Suggestion,  269,  274,  300  et  seq. 
Suggestion  limited  to  the  material  cf 

the  brain,  301. 
Superconscious,  238. 
Supernaturalism,  384. 
Sursum,  438. 
Sympathetic  plexus,  297. 
Systems    of    projection,     Meynert's 

three,  189. 

Tailed  bcdy,  148. 

Teacher,  303. 

Tegmentum,  137. 

Telegraphing  and  nervous  system,  7;. 

Telepathic  machine,  the  soul  as  a,  44. 

Telepathy,  43  et  seq  ,  324. 

Temporal  lobe,  210. 

Tension  of  the  mind  and  conscious- 
ness, 194. 

Thalami,  143. 

Thalamic  region,  137  et  seq. 

Thalamus,  142  et  seq. 

Thalamus  and  its  relations,  146. 

Thalamus  opticus,  100,  137. 

Theories,  39. 

Therapeutic  employment  of  hypno- 
tism, 269. 

Thing  in  itself  (subjective  reality ),io. 

Things  in  themselves,  3,  33. 

Things  in  themselves  do  not  exist,  34. 

Things  in  themselves  (the  unknow- 
able behind  things),  33. 

Thinking,  360. 

Thinking,  purpose  of,  361. 

Third  ventricle,  144. 

Thought,  mechanism  of,  358. 

Thought,  nature  of,  354  et  seq. 

Threshold  of  perception,  21. 

Toxopneustes  variegatus,  230. et  seq. 

Transiency  of  the  subjective  world, 


Treadle,  226. 

Trippier,  169. 

True,  meaning  of,  39  et  seq. 

Truth, 436. 

Truth  is  objective,  41. 

Truth  is  subjective,  42. 

Truth,  ubiquity  of,  41. 

Truth,  what  it  is,  40  et  seq. 

Tuber  cinereum,  145. 

Turbellaria  (whirl-worm),  74. 

Two  souls,  251. 

Two  spheres  of  soul-life,  239. 

Ubiquity  of  truth,  41. 
Ultra-lethargy,  280. 
Unconscious  cerebration,  313. 
Unconscious  growth,  247. 
Unconscious  intelligence,  204,  352. 
Unconscious,  meaning  of,  265. 
Unconscious  mental  processes,  251. 
Unconscious  reasoning,  193. 
Unconscious  soul-activity,  238,  244  et 

seq. 

Unconsciousness,  351. 
Unicellular  beings,  219. 
Uninterrupted  chain  of  motions,  8. 
Unity  of  consciousness  the  product 

of  concentration,  206. 
Universe,  soul  of  the,  437. 
Unknowable,  371. 
Unknowable,  the  subject  as,  33. 
Unstable  combination   and   kinetic 

energy,  51. 
Uraster,  69. 
Utopia,  410. 

Vegetative  soul,  125. 

Venus  fly-traps,  73. 

Vertebrate  brains,  general   plan   of, 
in  et  seq. 

Vertebrates,  94  et  seq. 

Vertebrates   and   invertebrates,  con- 
necting link  between,  95. 

Vertebrates,  nervous  system  of  the,. 
99  et  seq. 

Vibration   of  muscles   and    sensory 
nerves,  8. 

Vicarious  activity  of  brain-substance, 
163. 

Vic  d'Azyr,  146. 

Visible  motion,  54. 


458 


THE  SOUL   OF  MAN. 


Vision  and  unity  of  consciousness, 
207. 

Vision,  mechanism  of,  282. 

Vis  viva  and  kinetic  energy,  49. 

Vital  force  and  energy,  51. 

Vital  functions,  connection  of  pleas- 
ure and  pain  with,  339. 

Vitalism,  47  et  seq. 

Vitality,  56. 

Volkmann,  22. 

Waller,  117. 

Wants,  343. 

Wants,  natural  and  unnatural,  344. 


Waterbeetle,  88. 
Weber's  law,  21  et  seq. 
Weismann,  215,  218,  219,  229,  340. 
Wernicke,  193,  198,  202. 
Whirl-worm,  (Turbellaria),  74. 
Will,  359,  393- 

Will,  muscular  movement  in  act  of, 
Word-blindness,  177. 
Word-deafness,  177. 
World,  rationality  of  the,  15. 
World  (the  spiritual),  385. 
Wundt,  139,  197. 

Xenions,  315. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  NOTE. 

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300  Francs.  I  have  found  Dr.  Auzoux' s  models  of  clastic  Anatomy  fir  superior 
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